Only 15km Left to Finish Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, Putin Says
There are only 15 km (9 miles) left to finish the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany that bypasses Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.The $11 billion project doubling the capacity of the first Nord Stream pipeline to 110 billion cubic meters a year has been a focal point of tensions between Moscow and the West.Despite U.S. sanctions, Nord Stream 2 is almost complete and the key question is how Russia will ship its gas to Europe once a current…
Poland to Receive first US LNG Delivery in June
Poland will receive its first liquefied natural gas supplies (LNG) from the United States in mid-June as a result of a deal Polish gas firm PGNiG signed with Cheniere Energy, state-run PGNiG said on Thursday. Cheniere Energy will make the spot delivery at the Swinoujscie terminal on the Baltic Sea. Poland, which consumes around 15-16 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually, built its first LNG terminal in Swinoujscie as part of a bigger plan to reduce reliance on gas it imports from Russia's Gazprom. The terminal, which started commercial operations in 2016, has a capacity of 5 bcm per year. Since then it has been receiving LNG from Qatargas, which in March agreed to double deliveries to 2 million tonnes (3 bcm) per year. It also took one delivery on the spot market from Norway.
U.S. LNG Seen Destined for Europe
According to Wood Mackenzie Ltd, Europe is set to be the key destination for liquefied natural gas supplies from the U.S. after prices fell in Asia, the world’s biggest consumer of the fuel says a report in Bloomberg. The U.S. is forecast to ship about 55 percent of its total LNG production, or 32 million metric tons a year, to Europe by 2020, according to Alex Munton, the Houston-based principal analyst for Americas LNG at Wood Mackenzie. That’s because Europe is so close, has ample import capacity and liquid markets, and now has prices nearer to those in Asia. Wood Mackenzie’s Chong Zhi Xin says: “In 2015, weak market environment forced companies to adjust strategies and tactics.
Weak Oil Threatens US Export of LNG
Plunging global oil prices may turn hopes for cheap liquefied natural gas supplies from the United States into a costly disappointment for Asian buyers who have already invested billions of dollars in long-term contracts. The 26 percent price slide since June to $85 a barrel exposes cracks in the assumption by utilities and industrial companies from Japan to India that cheap U.S. LNG would muscle into high-value Asian energy markets from 2016. Oil prices form the backbone of LNG trade to Asia, because exporters outside the United States typically tie 25-year supply deals to crude oil prices. If prices continue to fall, these suppliers from Qatar to Australia will regain their edge over upstart U.S. producers. "From the buyer's view, $80 oil makes oil-linked supplies less expensive ...
