Gas-Producing Nations Take First Step Toward OPEC-Style Group
The world's biggest gas producers agreed to set up a committee to look into pricing, in what could be the first step toward setting up an OPEC-style group to control supplies. Energy ministers from Russia, Iran and Qatar, holders of the world's biggest gas reserves, and envoys from 10 other nations, met today in Doha, the capital of Qatar, for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. They agreed to set up a working committee that will examine the relationship between producers and consumers as well as pricing. The European Union, which relies on Russia for a quarter of its gas, has warned that a group modeled on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may spur consumers to switch to alternative sources of energy.
Meet the ULFPS
While seeking to consolidate its existing LNG carrier workload by bidding for new tonnage to serve the Qatari export traffic and other projects, Spanish shipbuilder IZAR has intensified its research endeavors so as to create a broader business platform in the energy market. The group has thrown its weight behind a new initiative aimed at developing floating plant incorporating gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology to extract and convert gas from remote offshore fields into premium grade liquid products. The joint industry research and development project, known as Seagas, draws in IZAR Fene Shipyard (the former Astano establishment), Bermuda-based engineering corporation Foster Wheeler, and other partners from various disciplines.
Spain: IZAR Shows Its Mettle in the Gas Sector
As the sole shipbuilding organization outside eastern Asia with a current involvement in the construction of large LNG carriers, IZAR is determined to maintain a long-term position in a promising, higher value-added field of the newbuild market. The present business profile is based on a series of membrane-type vessels of 138,000-cu. m. capacity, contracted in recent years in the face of fierce international competition and oriental domination of gas tanker production. However, the gathering momentum behind the Spanish group's research and development drive has increased its offering to the LNG transportation sector beyond the impressive new generation of ships now taking form in Sestao and Puerto Real for Spanish and Norwegian interests.
