Gas Condensate News

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

The third and the last train of the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia has been put on hold but the second train is likely to be installed, the head of stakeholder TotalEnergies' said.The liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Russian Arctic has faced challenges from U.S. sanctions imposed on the project last November over the conflict in Ukraine, and subsequent force majeures by shareholders.At the end of 2023 Arctic LNG 2 started tentative production at its first train, which is yet to deliver a first cargo.

Russian energy company Novatek said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack.The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets. It processes stable gas condensate - a type of light oil - into light and heavy naphtha, kerosene and diesel to be shipped by sea.It was not clear how long the disruption would last…

Foreign shareholders suspended participation in the Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions, renouncing their responsibilities for financing and for offtake contracts for the new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, the daily Kommersant reported on Monday.The project, seen as a key element in Russia's drive to boost its LNG global market share to 20% by 2030 from 8%, was already facing difficulties due to U.S. sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and a lack of gas carriers.China's state oil majors CNOOC  and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) each have a 10% stake in the project…

Russia is hoping its shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will offset a sharp fall in pipeline gas exports to Europe, but a shortage of gas tankers and sanctions hold back its plans, analysts and industry sources said.Russia wants to boost its share of the LNG market to 20% by 2030 from 8% now, but a force majeure declaration by top producer Novatek over LNG supplies from its future Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions shows the hurdles it faces.Novatek's announcement comes after the United States last month imposed sanctions on Arctic LNG 2…

A severe storm in the Black Sea region has disrupted up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil exports from Kazakhtsan and Russia, according to state's officials and port agent data.Oil loadings from Novorossiysk and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in nearby Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka have been suspended since last week.Kazakhstan's largest oilfields - Tengiz, Kashagan and Karachaganak - are cutting combined daily oil output by 56% from November 27 as the storm disrupts loadings at CPC…

A Kremlin aide urged the Russian government on Thursday to adopt legislation allowing foreign-flagged vessels to use the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which Moscow wants to turn into a new Suez Canal.The NSR runs from Murmansk near Russia's border with Norway eastwards to the Bering Strait near Alaska.Although the route is physically challenging, it could cut sea transport times between Europe and Asia at a time when Russia's trade with Western countries is at post-Cold War lows following Moscow's decision to send troops into Ukraine."We have been left without transit routes.

India-based Reliance Industries' recently delivered FPSO Ruby on Sunday collided ‘lightly’ with an accommodation barge offshore the east coast of India, India’s Economic Times reported on the same day.The news website cited a Reliance spokesperson who said that the incident happened when a gangway from the accommodation barge got lifted and hit a staircase on the FPSO. Nobody was injured during the incident and both vessels sustained 'minor' damage. According to the RIL spokesperson, as reported by Economic Times, the project timeline is not affected.

Dutch offshore installation firm Heerema Marine Contractors said Tuesday it had broken a world lifting record with the installation of a 17,000 metric ton TotalEnergies' Tyra TEG module in the Danish sector of the North Sea.The TEG module, described as the biggest Tyra II project topside, was installed on the last remaining bare jacket at the Tyra offshore field."The lift of the 17,000 metric tons heavy process module broke a world record as the heaviest crane lift ever undertaken at sea.

Russia is considering banning foreign vessels from shipping Russian energy cargoes via the Northern Sea Route, as well as from icebreaking and coastal navigation, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday citing a draft government resolution.The step, proposed by the Industry and Trade Ministry, would restrict vessels built outside Russia on the Northern Sea Route that Moscow wants to become a major shipping lane as the Arctic warms at a faster rate than the rest of the world.The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Kommersant reported that the ministry on Nov.

A group of Russian maritime stakeholders have agreed to develop ship repair cluster in the country’s Far East.The trilateral agreement between PAO Sovcomflot, SMART LNG (a joint venture between PAO Sovcomflot and PAO NOVATEK) and Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center (FESRC, a subsidiary of Rosneft) was signed by: Andrey Shishkin, CEO of FESRC and Vice-President for Energy, Localization and Innovation of Rosneft; Igor Tonkovidov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sovcomflot, and Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SMART LNG.

Heerema Marine Contractors' giant semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir has lifted and installed the first new topside for TotalEnergies' Tyra redevelopment in the Danish North Sea.Noreco, TotalEnergies' partner in the project, shared the photos of the installation via social media on Tuesday."The world’s largest semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir, with an incredible precision, has now lifted off the first new Tyra topside and installed it on the jacket. This is an important step towards what will be a state-of-the-art facility in the North Sea…

Singapore's offshore platform constructor Sembcorp Marine has completed the fabrication of two wellhead topsides, one riser topside, and two bridges for deployment at TotalEnergies’ Tyra field redevelopment in the Danish North Sea.The topsides and bridges sailed away from Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard Sunday. They will replace Tyra’s aging facilities to support further production. According to photos shared by Sembcorp Marine, the facilities are being shipped by the Bigroll Beaufort vessel…

Russian gas company Novatek has signed heads of agreement with Glencore for the long-term supply of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project.The agreement, signed Wednesday at Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum, established the key commercial terms for the long-term supply of more than of 0.5 million tons of LNG per year from the Arctic LNG 2 project. The LNG will be delivered to a number of locations in East Asia, Novatek said.Leonid Mikhelson, NOVATEK's Chairman of the Management…

Wärtsilä Voyage has signed a contract to deliver radio and integrated navigation systems for 10 icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers to be constructed for the Arctic LNG-2 project.The order was placed in January 2021 and is now in process of execution, in partnership with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd shipyard. The new contract is an extension of the announcement made last summer, where Wärtsilä Voyage equipped five LNG carriers with integrated bridge systems under the same project.

Oil and gas companies Equinor and ConocoPhillips on Friday received approvals for drilling of offshore wells in the North Sea, and the Norwegian Sea, respectively.Equinor has been given a regulatory approval from the oil and gas safety body PSA Norway to drill a sidetrack in an exploration well 35/11-24 in the North Sea, at the Swisher prospect.The well 35/11-24 B will be drilled in the water depth of 356 meters. Equinor will use Seadrill’s 2008-built West Hercules semi-submersible drilling rig. The drilling is expected to take 63 days to complete.The drilling of the Swisher follows a recent success by Equinor at the Atlantis well, using the same rig, also in the North Sea.

Finland-based marine engine and technology provider Wärtsilä said it has been contracted to deliver a complete bridge systems installation for five icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled tankers to be constructed for the Arctic LNG-2 project. The navigational systems are delivered by Wärtsilä Voyage, the new business responsible for digital solutions and decision support tools to enhance safety and reliability of shipping operations.The order with Wärtsilä Voyage was placed in the first quarter of 2020 and now is in process of execution…

Dutch heavy lift and transportation company Mammoet has said it has won its largest-ever contract at the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia.Mammoet said Monday the contract was awarded by Technip-led joint venture NovArctic in cooperation with Saipem and NIPIgas. Under the contract, Mammoet will be responsible for unloading, transportation, and installation for the Novatek-operated Arctic LNG 2 project.The $21.3 billion Arctic LNG 2 project, sanctioned in 2019, will develop the Utrenneye field on the Gydan Peninsula.

Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic Technology Oy said that its Arctic condensate tanker Boris Sokolov has now been transporting gas condensate from Sabetta to various ports in Europe for more than half a year.Last spring, Aker Arctic’s expedition team carried out full-scale ice trials on the vessel based on our Aker ARC 212 design.In order to evaluate the performance of the vessel, the fully-laden Boris Sokolov deviated from her regular route and headed towards the Siberian coast to seek ice conditions that were closer to the tanker’s maximum independent icebreaking capability. The analysis of the results is currently ongoing.The new Chinese icebreaking polar research vessel…

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO), the largest and oldest shipping company on the Caspian sea, informed that works on laying pipes in the Absheron gas condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea are under way.“Aura” tow-vessel vessel and “Suleyman Vezirov” pipe- laying ship of the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) were involved in the pipe laying operations.The first phase of the operations has already been completed. Thus, the 13299-meter pipeline between “Darwin Bank” and “Absheron Bank” was fully laid.At present, the pipe laying process is carried out by ships between “Absheron Bank” and “Western Absheron”. The length of this line is 11600 meters.At the next stage, pipe –laying works will be carried out in the gas separator point No.

Russia's second-largest natural gas producer Novatek announced that Arcticgas, a joint venture between Novatek and PAO Gazprom Neft, commenced commercial production at the East-Urengoyskoye+North-Esetinskoye field within the Samburgskiy license area.It has an estimated annual production capacity of more than one (1) billion cubic meters of natural gas and 0.2 million tons of gas condensate. The new production capacity is located in close proximity to the Company’s existing infrastructure, which allowed Novatek to quickly commence initial production and optimize the capital costs.The field will contribute to incremental growth in Novatek’s…

Two Russian companies signed a deal on Thursday to build the world's most powerful nuclear icebreaker to help boost trade on a northern sea route crucial to forging closer links with Asia.Atomflot, a subsidiary of Russian nuclear group Rosatom, and the Zvezda shipyard, owned by a consortium led by oil giant Rosneft, said they would work together to build the Lider (Leader) icebreaker.President Vladimir Putin has said that Arctic shipping routes along Russia's northern coast could rival the Suez Canal as a short-cut trade route between Europe and Asia.Rosatom said the 209-meter icebreaker…

Russia's ambitious Northern Sea Route (NSR) requires 735 billion roubles ($11.7 billion) in investments, with the state budget to provide a third and the rest to come from companies and banks, the head of state nuclear firm Rosatom, Alexey Likhachyov, said.Rosatom, the world's top nuclear company in terms of foreign orders, was selected by the Russian government to operate the NSR - the Arctic route Moscow wants to turn into a new Suez - coordinating development of the project among its users.This month…