British Gas News

U.S. LNG to Europe may squeeze out smaller gas suppliers.Shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) have gathered pace in March and Europe is set to stay a top destination for spot cargoes with Asian prices still too low to ship the chilled fuel that far.But winter demand for gas is fading, while steady supplies of gas and LNG have kept inventories well stocked, depressing European gas hub prices. This has raised the question: how many more cargoes can Europe absorb?Suppliers of U.S.

An oil tanker and a Norwegian navy frigate collided off Norway's west coast on Thursday, injuring eight people and triggering the temporary shutdown of a North Sea crude export terminal, Norway's top gas processing plant and several offshore fields.The frigate, which recently took part in a major NATO military exercise, was aground and tilting on one side, live television pictures showed. The Norwegian military was attempting to save the ship."We are working on stabilizing the vessel…

Norway's Statoil does not expect European gas prices to fall much further as rising demand from the power generation sector would offset an expected increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, company officials said on Wednesday. The majority state-owned Statoil, Europe's second largest gas supplier after Russia's Gazprom, sold a record 85 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in 2015. LNG supply to Europe is expected to rise as new liquefaction plants in the U.S. and Australia ramp up production. "LNG could potentially put pressure on prices, but then the demand will kick in and balance this," Olav Kolbeinstveit, Vice President, Market Analysis, told Reuters. "In the short-term there can be some pressure, but over time prices can't fall much more lower than they are now," he added.

On April 6, Mammoet, a service provider specializing in engineered heavy lifting and transport, completed a load-out of the first set of four modules bound for the FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) P66 vessel. This is the first of eight FPSOs currently under construction for oil production in Brazil. The end client, TUPI BV, is a consortium composed of Petrobras Netherlands BV (PNBV, 65 percent), the British Gas Group (BG Group, 25 percent) and Galp Energia S.A. (10 percent), working on the ongoing development of the Lula Alto field, located in the Santos Basin, Brazil.

MILAN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Atlantic natural gas markets are seeing some of the biggest price swings in years as volatile European trade, freezing U.S. weather and Brazilian demand leave tankers torn over where to sail. The region's gas markets, each taking turns as top payer before being outbid again, have boosted consumption of shipped liquefied natural gas (LNG), triggering multiple diversions as vessels chase the best price. Two weeks ago Europe became the world's premium gas market after a year-long demand slump in Asia, thrusting Atlantic trade into the spotlight. A mix of Dutch production caps, supply outages and technical trading has driven European gas prices towards fresh multi-month highs as Asian prices show only meager gains, widening premiums.

Australia's North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant sold a cargo to BG Group and Trafigura as part of a recent tender, in which some bidders sought to haul supply into premium European markets, trade sources said. Plans by several trading companies to ship Australian LNG into Europe or the Atlantic Basin would, if successful, mark the first such arrivals since 2009, boosting regional supply. Known as back-hauls, some traders wanted to use tankers that had discharged in Tokyo Bay and were set for a return trip into the Atlantic to pick up an Australian cargo en route, one source linked to the export project said. It is not known whether BG and Trafigura are eyeing Atlantic markets. The cargoes were awarded on Friday.

Statoil President and CEO Helge Lund has informed the company's board of directors that he will resign. Helge Lund has chosen to leave Statoil to take up the position as CEO of another international oil and gas company. The board of directors has appointed Eldar Sætre as acting president and CEO of Statoil with immediate effect. According to a Reuters report, Statoil's long-serving chief executive will take on the top role at smaller rival BG, where he has been promised a big pay rise if he can turn round the flagging British gas and oil producer.

Golar LNG Limited announced that with effect from September 19, 2014, Sir Frank Joseph Chapman has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company and will act as the Company's Chairman. Sir Frank Chapman has worked 40 years in the oil and gas industry culminating in a twelve-year period as Chief Executive of BG Group plc. Under Sir Frank's leadership, BG Group grew from the modest UK-based Exploration and Production interests of the old British Gas into an international integrated oil and gas major. Operating profits grew from some $50 million in 1996 to more than $8 billion in 2012. Sir Frank is currently a non-executive director of Rolls-Royce plc and chairman of their safety and ethics committee.

Yesterday, a new club house for the Cleveland Juniors Football Club in Middlesbrough in northern England was officially opened. With support from RWE Dea, the Football Foundation and other sponsors, Lionsraw collected a total of GBP 418,000 to complete their first Legacy Project in the United Kingdom. The club house and a lease will secure the future of the junior football club in the long term. Former Middlesbrough and England manager Steve McClaren officially opened the new clubhouse on Wednesday. Construction, including showers, lockers, toilets and office facilities in northern England, began on 4 March 2014. The new building replaces the old storage containers the young football players and children have been using as changing room until now.

Chile's state oil company ENAP has signed long-term deal with British Gas to import shale gas from the United States at the end of next year, local media reported. Shipments will leave from a U.S. port, Chilean Energy Minister Maximo Pacheco was quoted as saying on Monday in newspaper La Tercera's Tuesday edition. "Among the first gas shipments to leave from that port will be gas destined for Chile," Pacheco said. The deal's volumes and prices were not revealed. A press officer at the Energy Minister confirmed the information but did not give further details.

The late Nelson Mandela once said: “I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.” At the EU-Africa summit in Brussels last month, European leaders urged their African counterparts to facilitate that dream by shouldering more of the security burden in their countries, both onshore and offshore. The summit coincided with reports of renewed piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden; ongoing attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Guinea, and explosions and mass arrests in Kenya, all serving to underline the scale of that challenge.

1. Net profit improved 13% to S$322 million compared to 1Q09. 2. Earnings per share of 20.2 cents, up 13% from 1Q09’s 17.9 cents. 3. Annualised ROE remained above 20%. 4. Economic Value Added increased from S$211 million to S$240 million. 5. Cash outflow of S$501 million. 6. Net cash decreased from 0.14x to 0.07x. The first quarter of this year saw the global recovery gaining momentum. The latest figures indicate that the recovery in the US is gradually broadening to embrace the manufacturing and services sectors, with signs of a turnaround in the labour market. Across in Europe, while recovery seems to be tentative, there appears to be improved business confidence. Economic growth in Asia has certainly remained firm. China grew by 11.9% in the first quarter of the year.

GAC, provider of shipping, logistics and marine services, announced the launch of GAC Training & Service Solutions Limited (GTSS), a new initiative that will provide training solutions for the LNG and tanker markets, as well as other commodity and maritime sectors. A joint venture between GAC and the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI), the partnership will provide expert delivery of a portfolio of training courses for both seafarers and shore-based shipping personnel.

Noble Denton, global offshore engineering and marine services company, announced its move into a new office facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The new 850 square meter facility is located at Rua Araujo Porto Alegre, 36, 5th Floor, in downtown Rio. Noble Denton currently employs 28 in Brazil, and the company has aggressive plans for growth. It expects to employ 40 to 45 people by the end of 2009, and to reach 80 full-time employees in the next three years. "Noble Denton has been growing rapidly in Brazil over the past few years, and this office move is a part of our plan to increase our presence in Latin America,” said Andrew Theophanatos, Brazil Country Manager, Noble Denton.

Statoil and British Gas Trading Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Centrica, have signed a gas sales contract for supplies of five billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. Supplies will start on October 1, 2005 and run for 10 years. This is Statoil's largest sale since the Troll gas sales agreement in 1986 on the basis of annual volumes. The contract reinforces Statoil's position as the largest importer of gas to the UK. managing director of Statoil UK. increase the supply of gas to meet the UK's growing energy needs. supply. supplies of 1.6 bcm per year over fifteen years. "Statoil looks forward to cooperating with British Gas Trading. market, increases Statoil's commercial opportunities. market segment where we are not active. concludes Mr Bjørnson.

Diversifying services from its core business of leasing out ships for oil and gas exploration, Garware Offshore Services Ltd. is acquiring a construction barge from a Chinese manufacturer for $25m. According to a company official, the deal details have been discussed and the order would be finalized sometime this week. The barge, to be delivered by the second quarter of 2009, is being acquired through 100 per cent financing via its Singapore subsidiary on a bareboat charter basis. The deal gives Garware an option for a second order, too. The name of the Chinese company was not disclosed. These barges are required for the maintenance of oil and gas exploration platforms and have an earning potential of $25,000 per day in India, in fair weather conditions.

From October 2-5, MSI Newport conducted the first of three Shiphandling/Tractor Tug Operation courses for Masters, Pilots and Tug Masters at the Marathon Oil LNG Terminal in Equatorial Guinea. This training follows a research project in which MSI used real-time, full mission simulation to examine the terminal layout, mooring procedures, and required tug power. In attendance were 2 LNG Masters from Cerres Shipping, 3 Tug Masters from SMIT and 2 Pilots from Marathon Oil. Additionally, other members of the Marathon Oil and SMIT team were in attendance with a representative of British Gas. Training including scenarios involving emergencies in docking and undocking LNG carriers at the new Marathon Oil terminal.

The Papua New Guinea Government received confirmation of global interest in bidding for 15 exploration blocks in the Gulf of Papua when 60 executives from more than 30 international oil and gas companies attended their inaugural road show in Singapore. The companies included the big British Gas Group, ChevronTexaco, CNPC of China, Hunt Oil Company, Korea Gas Corporation, Mitsubishi, Nippon, Pearl Energy Ltd, Petronas, Premier Oil, Repsol and Singapore Petroleum. Sir Moi told the audience that the area was selected because of their newly recognised prospectivity and proximity to onshore discoveries as well as finds in the offshore Papuan sedimentary basin.

1956: Elvis released his first album; the film debut of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was frightening American audiences; My Fair Lady opened on Broadway; and J. Ray McDermott began operations at the offshore industry's first dedicated steel fabrication yard near Morgan City, Louisiana. Among the major events of early 1956, many are now trivia, but the Morgan City "fab yard" continues to have a profound and lasting effect on the region and the world. Since its humble beginnings on April 1, 1956, J. Ray's Morgan City fabrication facility has built more offshore structures than any other fabrication facility and has served as the model for new offshore fabrication yards around the globe.

Keppel Shipyard Limited (Keppel Shipyard), a subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M), has signed a contract with Golar LNG Limited for the conversion of an existing LNG carrier into a floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU). The total contract value is approximately Singapore $90 million. When the conversion is completed in the second quarter of 2007, it will be the first of its type in the world. The conversion will be made based on relevant DNV class rules and international standards. Golar LNG will work in partnership with Keppel Shipyard in the engineering, procurement and construction for the project.

Greenpeace won its bid to delay oil exploration in the north Atlantic when a judge ruled the British government was failing to apply a European Commission environmental directive in allocating licenses. "The decision is a huge victory for whales, dolphins and coral reefs," Peter Melchett, the environmental group's executive director, told reporters after the ruling. The government is considering an appeal against the judgment that it is not taking into account the Commission's Habitats Directive in issuing exploration licenses. A spokesman said the government had been planning to issue new licenses in its 19th round early in 2000, but this was likely to be delayed.

Statoil said Britain risks losing out on gas imports if it does not change its pricing system for bringing natural gas onto the mainland from offshore fields. Rune Bjornson, managing director of Statoil (UK) Limited, said the recently introduced system of auctioning entry capacity, or access rights to the national pipeline system, produced very high, volatile prices. "We are not happy with the regime. We would like to have a predictable, stable regime which is more reflective of actual costs," Bjornson told Reuters in an interview. The erratic prices produced by the auction system will discourage producers like Statoil, one of Europe's main gas suppliers, from supplying gas into Britain where demand for natural gas is booming, he said.

Environmentalist group Greenpeace reportedly took the UK government to court over what it sees as Britain's failure to protect coral beds, whales, dolphins and other marine life from the effects of oil and gas exploration. Greenpeace officials said the government has failed to apply the European Union Habitats Directive to oil and gas exploration in the relatively deep waters of the Atlantic Frontier, where oil companies believe large new oil reserves are waiting to be tapped. Oil companies Texaco, Esso UK, Marathon Oil UK, Mobil North Sea, Enterprise Oil, Conoco Ltd., Statoil, Philips Petroleum UK, Elf Exploration And British Gas Exploration and Production are opposing Greenpeace's moves.