Equinor Sells Natural Gas Worth USD26bln in 2018
Norwegian energy company Equinor has announced its 2018 sales of natural gas totalled $26bn, an increase of 29% from 2017.Equinor sold a total of 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas worldwide in 2018. The company is the second-largest gas supplier to Europe, as well as the largest producer of natural gas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS)."As more countries prepare for the energy transition, Equinor sees strong market opportunities for gas and expects global demand to grow by around 10% towards 2030," Equinor said.Equinor is the largest producer of natural gas on the Norwegian continental shelf and the second-largest gas supplier to Europe. The company also has a significant gas portfolio outside Norway.
BP’s LNG Carrier Fleet is Growing
BP said it will take delivery of six new, state-of-the-art liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers in 2018 and 2019 to support its expanding global LNG portfolio. BP’s finance partners KMarin and ICBC Leasing are investing more than $1 billion in the tankers. The vessels will join BP’s exixting fleet to help service a 20-year liquefaction contract with the Freeport LNG facility in Texas, as well as other international LNG projects in BP’s global portfolio. “These vessels will significantly increase BP’s ability to safely transport LNG to anywhere in the world, directly supporting BP’s global natural gas strategy,” said BP Shipping CEO Susan Dio. The new ships are designed to be about 25 percent more fuel efficient than their predecessors, BP said.
BP Amoco Orders Two LNG Carriers From SHI
BP Amoco ordered two liquified natural gas (LNG) ships, with options to purchase three more, from Samsung Heavy Industries Co for in excess of $300 million. The oil giant, which is the world's second largest non-state producer of natural gas, said construction will start in April 2001 with delivery of the first ship in the fourth quarter of 2002 and the second in the first quarter of 2003. "This order is part of our strategy for rapidly growing our internationally traded gas business. It is unusual in that it does not follow the traditional convention of tying vessel orders to specific gas sources and specific gas customers," said Richard Flurry, chief executive, Gas and Power in a statement.
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.
