Gas Buyers News

Australia's plan to control domestic natural gas prices, which producers say will deter the development of new supply, is expected to boost the prospects for proposed LNG import terminals but potentially defeat the government's aim to cut energy bills.Parliament is set to pass legislation on Thursday to cap gas prices at A$12 per gigajoule (GJ) for a year and then require a "reasonable price" for domestic sales after the cap expires.Industry players say the plan, which surprised producers…

Greece can cope well with potential cuts in Russian gas supply due to the availability of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative, its energy minister said on Monday after a meeting with energy suppliers and grid operators on energy security.The country relied on Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline for 40% of its needs last year. About 70% of its gas imports are used in power generation.Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine and the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have fallen this year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February and Europe’s moves to impose sanctions on Moscow…

Australia's southern states will need to import natural gas to fill a looming shortfall by 2024, as last year's COVID-19 induced oil and gas price slump has slowed investment in new fields, the country's competition watchdog said on Tuesday.Regulators have warned of a potential gas shortfall since 2016 as the market's mainstay gas source off the south coast is drying up, but the supply crunch is now rapidly approaching, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said."It is concerning that the risk of a gas supply shortfall in Australia's southern states continues…

India’s new deepwater gas production could be under pressure from low spot LNG prices, says Wood Mackenzie.Deepwater is expected to drive India’s gas production growth, adding over 1 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd) of new supply by 2023. However, only 15% or 200 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of this supply has been contracted to date. With market demand impacted by Covid-19, and low spot LNG prices expected to persist at least until 2022, the full commercialization of these…

Work on Energean's Energean Power FPSO in Singapore has begun as Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard, Singapore, reopened on June 2, after the COVID-19 lockdown.The FPSO hull arrived from China in April for topside integration works in Singapore, however, on arrival, the yard operations were shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Energean on Monday said that on 2 June 2020, the Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard, Singapore, reopened, and that preparation works for the lifting of the topside modules of the Energean Power FPSO had started.

Japanese gas buyers marked the 50th anniversary since the first cargo of liquefied natural gas arrived in Japan, now the world’s biggest importer of the fuel.On November 4th, 1969, LNG was first imported to Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Company (now JERA Co., Inc.) and Tokyo Gas, through Mitsubishi Corporation acting as a buyer’s agent, started receiving LNG in 1969 from the Alaska LNG Project with Phillips Petroleum (now ConocoPhillips) as a seller.Demand for LNG and natural gas is expected to further increase globally, especially in the emerging countries. The role of LNG and natural gas is expected to expand further in the next half century…

Japanese gas buyers on Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary since the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived in Japan, now the world's biggest importer of the fuel.The arrival of the cargo on Nov. 4, 1969 helped transform Japan's energy system, which had relied on oil, coal and gas from coal in an era of high growth, before nuclear power was developed.But Japan's energy situation is undergoing huge changes in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, which…

Alaska Gasline Development Corp. President Keith Meyer says the Big 3 oil companies are cooperating with the state’s desire to take full ownership of the AK LNG Project. He laid out an ambitious list of “to-dos” the state needs to check off if it is going to lead the $55 billion Alaska LNG Project to fruition at a board of directors meeting. According to local media, ExxonMobil, BP and ConocoPhillips in recent months have signaled they may not all continue with the project amid the global slump in the price of oil and liquefied natural gas. Now, the state and the oil companies are working "cooperatively" on a plan to turn over leadership of the project to Alaska, said Keith Meyer, president of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.

Singapore looks to pull ahead in the race to become Asia’s main gas hub by establishing a domestic gas trading market. Rising liquefied natural gas (LNG)  supply and demand within Asia has prompted Singapore to to become a centre for energy trading. Singapore, already a global oil trading hub, is aiming to take advantage  from increasing numbers of buyers especially in China, but also India and other parts of Asia. Announcing the decicion, Singapore’s trade and industry minister S Iswaran said creating a domestic gas market would “allow domestic gas price discovery that reflects Singapore’s demand and supply conditions”. Forecasts suggest that Asia will buy two-thirds of the world’s LNG this year.

Gas buyers nervous of Russia cutting supply are helping solve Europe's problem of too many underused liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, as they seek space at France's Dunkirk plant. Adding to renewed demand is the more potent interest of major east Asian companies, shipping LNG from the booming output of their U.S. projects but fearing a saturated Asian market where they also face competition from Australian producers. Many European import terminals faced idling because of falling deliveries, but the combination of growing uncertainty over Russian supply and the U.S. shale revolution has jolted demand for them, raising options for diversifying gas supplies.

Texas LNG LLC says it has as filed an application to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) seeking authorization to export up to 2 MTA (million tonnes per annum) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to FTA (Free Trade Agreement) and non-FTA markets following the execution of its exclusive lease option agreement with the Port of Brownsville in South Texas, USA. The company explains it will employ a toll processing business model whereby the LNG customer will pay Texas LNG a fee…

In line with the changing business pattern in the ship repair industry and new business opportunities in the fast growing fleet of lng carriers around the world, Malaysia’s Malaysia Shipyard & Engineering (MSE) has entered the lng repair business. The yard has demonstrated its ability to innovate, reposition and transform itself to cater to this specialised niche market and shown its commitment by investing substantially to build up lng repair capabilities and facilities. As part of a drive to enhance capability and expertise in the repair of lng carriers, MSE has entered into a Technical Service Agreement on October 15th 2002 with Gaz Transport Technigaz (GTT).

Shell Gas & Power said on Tuesday short-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts will become common within the next decade. Shell Gas & Power President Peter de Wit said that because of the heavy cost of building the fixed infrastructure needed to deliver LNG, almost all contracts are long-term at present, but buyers are seeking flexibility. "We could see 25 percent of contracts over time will probably become short-term contracts," de Wit said. De Wit, who is also the director of Shell's Asia-Pacific gas business, said short-term contracts, which may last a few months up to a few years, could be common in 5-10 years time. Buyers like Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) - the world's single largest LNG importer - want the flexibility, de Wit said.