Gas Infrastructure News

Nine Injured in Pemex Platform Fire

Mexico's state energy company Pemex said on Saturday that a fire broke out at one of its platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, adding that it had activated emergency protocols and contained it but that nine workers were injured in the accident.Pemex said in a statement that two of the workers were its own employees and seven were from other companies, adding that none were severely injured.The fire broke out late afternoon in a part of the Akal B platform where gas pipelines are located.Videos…

Shell Sues Greenpeace for Boarding Penguins FPSO While in Transit

Shell is suing Greenpeace for $2.1 million in damages after the environmental group's activists boarded the company's oil production vessel in transit at sea this year, according to Greenpeace and a document seen by Reuters.The British oil and gas major filed the claim in London's High Court. Greenpeace activists boarded the vessel in January near the Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of northern Africa to protest oil drilling and traveled on it as far as Norway.In an email to Reuters…

RCP Finance Secures Funding for Fuel Distributer in Maldives

Independent finance and capital structuring partner RCP Finance has successfully secured a $15 million credit facility from a leading Asian lender for The Hawks Pvt Ltd., a distributor of high-quality fuel in the Maldives.The Hawks caters to a range of local businesses including resort hotels, super yachts and navy vessels, with a total portfolio of more than 452 clients.Part of the credit facility has been used to facilitate the acquisition of the Bro Developer, a 2007 oil and chemical tanker with a carrying capacity of 15,000dwt.

New FSRU Arrives in France as Greenpeace Blocks Port

A new LNG floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) arrived in western France on Monday morning, a TotalEnergies' spokesperson said, as activist group Greenpeace tried to prevent it from entering port.Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Europe has grown in the wake of the war in Ukraine, with France relying on its four LNG terminals to replace Russian gas imports and help supply neighbors like Germany.The Cape Ann FSRU arrived at Le Havre port on Monday morning, LSEG ship tracking data showed.However, environmental group Greenpeace blocked the tanker's course in protest at what they sa

14th Annual Maritime Risk Symposium to be Held Nov. 14-16 at SUNY Maritime

The 2023 Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS) will be held Nov. 14-16, 2023, as an in-person event, hosted by Maritime College, State University of New York (SUNY) at the Maritime Academic Center. The theme of the 14th annual event is “Managing Impacts of Supply Chain Disruptors, Renewable Energy, Emerging Technology on the Maritime Transportation System (MTS)” with a focus on offshore infrastructure risk and disruptors. Founded in 1874, Maritime College is the oldest maritime college in the United States, providing mariner training for 150 years.

India's GAIL Close to Finalizing Qatar LNG Purchase Deal

GAIL (India) Ltd is close to finalizing a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) import deal with Qatar to buy at least 1 million metric tons per year, potentially for more than 20 years, three industry and trade sources said.The deal would be part of GAIL's plans to lock in new supply contracts by 2030 to diversify its gas imports and hedge against supply disruptions like those seen after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, when LNG prices surged to a record high.Neither state…

Harsh Weather Offshore LNG Terminal Firm Crown to Merge with Catcha

Crown LNG Holdings AS, a provider of LNG liquefaction and regasification terminal technologies for harsh weather locations, has agreed to merge with Catcha Investment Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, that would result in Crown becoming a U.S. publicly listed company. The combined company, named Crown LNG Holdings Limited (“PubCo”), intends to apply to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “CGBS”.Crown designs and…

Celsius Orders Four LNG Carriers

Shipowner Celsius Tankers announced it has ordered four new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from shipbuilder China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) (CMHI) for scheduled delivery in 2026 and 2027.Celsius has formed a joint venture with an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners (ArcLight), a middle-market infrastructure investor, to fund two of the LNG carriers. Commodities trading house Gunvor Group Ltd will have a significant equity interest in the other two newbuildings, the first for any independent LNG trading company, demonstrating the strength of Gunvor's global position in the LNG market. All four vessels will enter long…

Equinor's Arctic LNG Plant to Resume Production Next Week After Gas Leak Shutdown

Norway's Equinor plans to restart production at its Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Hammerfest on June 8 after it was shut down on May 31 due to a gas leak, the company said in a market message on Thursday. The facility will be unavailable until 2100 GMT on June 8, according to a message posted via the transparency page of Norwegian gas infrastructure operator Gassco. Equinor halted production after it detected a gas leak on a cooling circuit valve. The leak had been plugged late on Wednesday.

NATO's Stoltenberg, EU's von der Leyen Travel to North Sea Platform

The heads of NATO and the European Commission flew on Friday to a North Sea platform bigger than the Eiffel Tower in a visit underlining Norway's importance for gas supplies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The Troll A platform extracts gas from Norway's biggest gas field. After a drop in Russian flows, the Nordic country last year became the largest gas supplier to the EU.NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will discuss the protection of infrastructure and gas supplies to Europe with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere…

Wave of New LNG Export Plants Threatens to Knock Gas Prices

A flood of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects due online worldwide in mid-decade will vie against lower-cost renewable energy and a revived nuclear power sector, which could rock gas prices and hurt some proposed projects, analysts say.Proposed and approved new LNG plants would boost LNG supply by 67% increase to 636 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2030 from 2021 levels, potentially saturating the gas market."There's over a trillion dollars of natural gas infrastructure being built in the world today.

Snam Confirms 2022 Guidance, aims to boost Italy's Gas Storage & Transport Facilities

Italian gas grid operator Snam confirmed on Thursday its guidance for full-year net profit after reporting a rise of 10% in nine-month revenue to 2.4 billion euros ($2.41 billion). The state-controlled group said it planned to boost Italy's gas storage and transport facilities after getting the go-ahead to set up two new LNG terminals. The new floating LNG terminals and investments in gas infrastructure are part of a broader effort by the Italian government to replace dwindling Russian gas supplies and keep a lid on energy costs. The gas grid operator reported a decline of 9% in gas consumption by the industrial sector between January and September, in a sign that companies in Italy have cut activity in the face of high commodity prices and supply difficulties.

Threat Against Major Gas Plant Resolved, Norwegian Police Say

Norwegian police on Thursday responded to a threat made by telephone against the Nyhamna gas processing plant, one of Europe's largest energy export facilities, and later said the incident had been resolved. The threat came amid heightened concerns about the security of oil and gas infrastructure following suspected sabotage of Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines to Europe, though plant operator Gassco and offshore producers Shell and Equinor said output had not been interrupted.

Safety Concerns: Norway Inspects Europipe II Subsea Gas Pipeline to Germany

Norway has deployed a specialist vessel to inspect a subsea gas pipeline to Germany because of safety concerns after suspected sabotage last month on two Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany, according to sources and data.Norway, Europe's largest gas supplier, last week put its energy sector on high alert, deploying its navy and air force to patrol offshore facilities and placing soldiers at onshore gas processing plants after the Sept. 26 Nord Stream blasts.The Havila Subsea, an oil service vessel equipped with remotely operated subsea vehicles, was deployed on Oct. 5 to survey the Europipe II pipeline that runs from the Kaarstoe gas plant in Norway to Dornum in Germany, Refinitiv vessel-tracking data shows.

Norway Posts Soldiers at Oil, Gas Plants after Nord Stream Leaks

Norway's military said on Monday it had posted soldiers to help guard major onshore oil and gas processing plants, part of a wider effort to boost security amid suspicion that sabotage caused leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines last week.Russia's Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines burst on Sept. 26, draining gas into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Seismologists registered explosions in the area, and police in several countries have launched investigations.Norway…

Twin Brothers Appoints Theriot VP

Twin Brothers Marine (TB), which is in heavy steel fabrication for the oil & gas, infrastructure and renewables industries, appointed Wayne P. Theriot as vice president of finance.Theriot will be based in Louisiana and joins TB from TTMK Holdings, a family operated private equity company consisting of 17 separate companies in Louisiana and California, where he served as chief financial officer (CFO). During his 30-year career, he has held CFO and vice president roles in offshore rental and rigging and food distribution companies in the region.

Saipem Confirms Targets After Return to Core Profit

Italy's Saipem on Wednesday confirmed its 2022 guidance and the targets in its business plan after the energy services group reported a first-half adjusted core profit of 321 million euros ($325 million).Investors this month agreed to fund only 1.4 billion euros of a life-saving 2 billion euro cash call, leaving the underwriting banks to mop up the remaining new shares.

Biden Moves to Expand Offshore Wind to Gulf of Mexico

The Biden administration on Wednesday said it had identified 700,000 acres for possible offshore wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico, seeking to expand a growing clean energy industry to a major U.S. oil and gas hub.It also said President Joe Biden would direct his Interior Department to move ahead with offshore wind development in areas of the Atlantic coast where former President Donald Trump banned oil and gas development."Today we open up yet another coast and frontier in expanding offshore wind…

Italy's Snam Buys Golar Tundra FSRU for $350M

Italian gas group Snam has agreed to buy Golar LNG's floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) Golar Tundra for $350 million.The Golar Tundra can operate both as an LNG carrier and as an FSRU. The vessel, built in 2015, has a storage capacity of around 170,000 cubic meters of LNG and a continuous regasification capacity of 5 billion cubic meters per year.In order to maximise its regasification capacity, the vessel will be located in central-northern Italy, close to the areas with the greatest gas consumption. The Golar Tundra is expected to start operations as an FSRU during the spring of 2023, subject to the completion of authorization…

Vopak, Gasunie Team Up to Build Hydrogen Import Infrastructure in Dutch, German Ports

Vopak, a Dutch natural gas infrastructure and transportation company operating in the Netherlands and Germany, has teamed up with the tank storage firm Gasunie to jointly develop future terminal infrastructure projects for hydrogen import into Northwest Europe via Dutch and German ports. The two companies have collaborated in the Gate LNG terminal in the Port of Rotterdam that came into operation in 2011."Alongside domestic production of hydrogen, large-scale import of green hydrogen will become essential for reaching the European Green Deal and the Fit for 55 targets.

Offshore Renewable Energy: A Port Puzzle for Floating Offshore Wind

After being very much on the margins of the offshore wind industry, floating offshore wind now appears to be ready to hit the mainstream. With gigawatt scale developments already on the horizon, what will the infrastructure needed to build and support them look like? Over the past 12 months, the floating offshore wind sector appears to have had a major dose of adrenaline. While the largest development, to date, is the relatively small-scale 50MW Kincardine project off northeast Scotland (which will be outdone by the 88MW Tampen project in Norway later next year [2022])…

Seaspan Ferries to Run Its Vessels on Renewable Natural Gas

This week, Seaspan Ferries Corporation became the first Canadian marine company to pilot the use of renewable natural gas (RNG) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by its roll-on, roll-off liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered marine fleet. Seaspan expects that data from the pilot will confirm that, by using RNG, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by upwards of 85% versus traditional diesel fuel.Seaspan has worked closely with FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC) to secure a source of certified carbon neutral RNG.“Renewable natural gas…

JAX LNG and TOTE Complete US' First Renewable LNG Bunkering

JAX LNG, a small-scale LNG facility located along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Fla., recently completed the first fueling of a marine vessel in the United States with a blend of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewable LNG (RLNG).JAX LNG loaded the RLNG/LNG blend into the Clean Jacksonville bunker barge to fuel the Isla Bella. The Isla Bella is the world’s first LNG-powered container ship and was put into service by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico in 2015. Element Markets supplied the renewable natural gas (RNG) used to produce the RLNG via renewable thermal certificates (RTCs).