Gas Pipeline Project News

The German government on Thursday signed agreements for the charters of four floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), as it works to become less reliant on Russian gas, as FSRUs will enable it to import LNG from other sources.The agreements were signed for the charters of two FSRUs owned by Oslo-listed firm Hoegh LNG, and two owned by Dynagas. Hoegh LNG FSRUs will be operated by RWE, while Uniper has facilitated the charter of two FSRUs managed by Dynagas Ltd.Höegh LNG said that the detailed FSRU contracts with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz halted the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project designed to bring more Russian gas to Germany on Tuesday after Russia formally recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.Europe's most divisive energy project was finished in September but has remained idle since then pending certification by Germany and the European Union.The project is designed to double the amount of gas flowing from Russia straight to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing…

Republican Senator Ted Cruz put a hold late on Friday on President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency to pressure the administration to put tough sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project.The Senate Intelligence Committee last week backed William Burns, a former ambassador to Russia, by a unanimous vote. Burns has been confirmed by the Senate for five previous jobs over 33 years and is expected to eventually be approved by the full…

Norway's risk management and quality assurance firm DNV GL has suspended work on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project led by Russia's Gazprom for fear of being sanctioned by the United States, it said on Thursday.Nord Stream 2 runs alongside the existing Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea and is designed to boost the amount of Russian gas that can be shipped to Europe without having to go through Ukraine.Washington wants to stop the project as it fears the pipeline would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin's economic and political influence over Europe.

Greece and Italy will sign an agreement on maritime boundaries during a visit by Italy's foreign minister to Athens on Tuesday, the Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry said.The deal follows months of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean region over natural resources. Turkey, Greece and Cyprus have been caught in a complex diplomatic standoff over the issue.Details of the deal were not immediately available.Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias are expected to make a joint statements following their meeting.At a meeting in Rome in February…

Swiss-Dutch company Allseas Group said it has no plans to resume laying pipes for Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Monday.Russia said it has its own vessel to complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany after Washington placed sanctions on the project.(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh, editing by Louise Heavens)

Kinder Morgan expects to bring the remaining nine units of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Elba Island into service by the first half of next year, Chief Executive Officer Steven Kean said on Wednesday.The first unit of Kinder Morgan's Elba Island facility began producing LNG natural gas for export last month, and is one of several new U.S. projects adding to global supplies.The Houston pipeline operator plans to bring three more into service this year, with another six to start up in the first half of 2020…

The last Nord Stream 2 pipe stored within the premises of the port of Karlshamn left the storage area. Russia’s  Nord Stream 2 AG is the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.Nearly 39,000 pipes have transited through the port since October 7, 2017. Out of these, almost 37,000 pipes have been shipped to the pipelay vessels working on the Swedish section of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. The surplus has been transported back to the port of Mukran in northern Germany.Wasco Coating Germany GmbH was in charge of the logistics operations in the port of Karlshamn during this 23-month long period.Up to 140 people worked for the Nord Stream 2 project during the peak period in the port of Karlshamn, when operations went on around the clock.

A group of leading business houses in Pakistan plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal by March 2019 for gas processing and consumption in their own plants, Reuters reported. The proposed, second multi-million dollars terminal being set up at the Port Qasim to handle LNG imports will give tremendous boost to LNG trade. The private terminal will bring the total number of potential LNG import projects in the country to eight. Currently, Pakistan has only one active LNG import terminal at Port Qasim in Karachi but is seen by traders and suppliers as a major growth market key to soaking up a growing glut of the fuel on international markets.

Stefano Cao has been brought back by Eni to turn around the oil service subsidiary Saipem that he spent nearly 25 years working for and prepare it for a sale, according to people familiar with the plan. Italian state-controlled oil major Eni has been mulling for years the idea of cutting its 43 percent stake in Saipem to somewhere below 30 percent, mainly to get 4.4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) of debt off its balance sheet that has been a brake on its own growth. But falling oil prices and setbacks that culminated last year in Saipem losing the lucrative South Stream gas pipeline project forced Eni to put the plan on hold. Saipem shares have fallen more than 60 percent in the past two years…

Drilling for oil and gas at an exploration block off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast will be delayed by at least six months until early 2016 following the fall in global oil prices, French oil firm Total said. Total, operator of the offshore 1-21 Han Asparuh block, has cancelled tenders for drilling services in a decision agreed with its partners in the block, Austria's OMV and Spain's Repsol. "Due to the significant and incessant decline in the prices of oil globally in the past months ... the companies unanimously decided to change the budget and the working schedule for 2015 and postpone the start of the drilling programme for 2016," the Bulgarian division of Total said in a note to the Bulgarian public procurement agency.

The United States is willing to help Hungary and other European countries build energy infrastructure to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and gas, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Budapest André Goodfriend has told Nepszava newspaper. "Relying on Russian sources threatens energy independence," Goodfriend told Nepszava in an interview published on Saturday. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has drawn criticism from Western governments for trying to secure supplies of energy and trade for Hungary by doing deals with Moscow. Critics say he should not be cosying up to Russia when it has sent troops into Ukraine. On Friday, Orban accused the European Union of sabotaging the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline project…

The Gazprom Management Committee addressed the progress with the South Stream It was stressed that South Stream gas pipeline project was ready for constructing. This includes the most complicated part of the project – the first and the second strings of the offshore gas pipeline. FEED activities are completed for the offshore section. At present, the project contractor Saipem is engaged in detailed engineering of the submerged trunkline. Almost 300 thousand tons of pipes have been supplied for the first offshore string. Pipeline sections for the deep-water part are currently being welded in the port of Burgas.

Bulgaria will not resume work on the Russian-led South Stream gas pipeline project until it receives the all clear from the European Commission, Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski said on Sunday. In a move that could inflame tensions between Russia and the European Union, the 28-nation bloc's executive arm last week asked the Balkan country to suspend work on Gazprom's South Stream project pending a decision on whether it complies with EU law. The pipeline is being built to transport 63 billion cubic metres of gas per year under the Black Sea through Bulgaria to central and southern Europe, bypassing Ukraine, as Russia seeks to cement its position as Europe's dominant gas supplier.

Rolls Royce has opened a new factory in Shanghai, China, to serve the world’s largest commercial shipbuilding market. Together with an existing facility in Korea, the factory forms a new production hub for north-east Asia enabling the company to supply shipyards with marine equipment at the point of manufacture – and open up new markets in the process. The Asian shipbuilding market is currently worth £19 billion annually and accounts for around 80 percent of all global construction. In 2004 new orders and deliveries reached record levels. Marine President Saul Lanyado, who officially opened the site yesterday, said: “This is a very exciting development for us and it opens up real opportunities to expand our business in Asia.

The Bush administration recently announced that it has lifted a ban on offshore oil drilling in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The move is a shot in the arm for the Alaska oil and gas industry, which is hoping for approval to build a new natural gas pipeline. A recently elected oil-friendly governor, the pipeline project and now expanded offshore drilling possibilities mean increased demand for workers. On January 9, 2007, the Bush administration lifted a long-standing moratorium on oil exploration in a 5.6 million acre area in the North Aleutian Basin of Alaska's Bristol Bay region. New Alaska Governor Sarah Palin welcomed the news that the moratorium has been lifted.

Gazprom board members at the South Stream Transport B.V. joint company in Amsterdam noted significant progress in the project. Approval was given for the signing of pipe supply contracts for the first of 4 lines of the 931-kilometer offshore gas pipeline & a mandate to complete the negotiations on the pipe laying work was given. The South Stream gas pipeline project aims to contruct a gas pipeline with a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe for the purpose of diversifying the natural gas export routes and eliminating transit risks.