Gas Distribution News

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…

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Cheniere Energy Inc said Wednesday its marketing arm agreed to sell LNG to a unit of Chinese natural gas distribution company Foran Energy Group Co Ltd for 20 years starting in January 2023.Analysts said the deal should move Cheniere closer to making a final investment decision (FID) to build the proposed Stage 3 expansion at its Corpus Christi plant in Texas, which is expected in 2022.The deal is one of several announced in recent weeks…

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes are being diverted away from ports in India as surging coronavirus cases there hamper domestic gas demand, trade and shipping sources said on Monday.Six LNG tankers diverted away from India since April 20, changing the destination to northeast Asia, Europe and Kuwait instead, said Rebecca Chia, an analyst with data intelligence firm Kpler.Further diversions and reduction in shipments to India are expected this week, trade sources told Reuters…

Russian oil and gas company Gazprom Neft has announced that a working meeting has been held between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Hee-Bong Chae, President and Chief Executive of KOGAS.The meeting participants reviewed the state and prospects of cooperation between the companies, highlighting the stability of LNG supplies under the contract between Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. and KOGAS.The parties expressed interest in further expanding their cooperation in the area of LNG and continuing their sci-tech collaboration.KOGAS (Republic of Korea) is focused on the construction and operation of LNG receiving terminals and gas distribution networks…

Japanese natural gas distribution company Saibu Gas and Russian LNG project operator Novatek revealed plans to form a joint venture.Novatek announced that it has signed the Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Saibu Gas in the presence of the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin.According to the Agreement, the Parties intend to establish a joint venture focused on marketing LNG and natural gas to end customers and developing the business for bunkering and gas-fired power generation in Japan and the Asian region, as well as constructing and operating a new LNG storage tank at the Hibiki LNG terminal.“We have made another important step forward in implementing our strategy to enter the end customer market in key gas consuming countries…

India and Russia have agreed on a five-year roadmap to step up cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, including investment, not only in exploration and production in each other's oil and gas fields but also in downstream projects.India invited Russian companies to invest in its oil refining and petrochemical projects as the two nations vowed to increase energy cooperation going beyond LNG supplies and stakes in Russian oil and gas fields.According to a joint statement issued after India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Indian state-owned firms, which already have stakes in four sets of oil and gas fields in Russia…

The energy demand would continue to grow driven by emerging economies and the projected growth in global population, which will touch nine billion by 2040.LNG demand is expected to increase at an average four per cent annually to reach more than 600 million tonnes in 2035 versus 290 million tonnes in 2017, said Qatargas CEO, Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani.Khalid said, “Natural gas remains the fastest growing fossil fuel globally, benefiting from its flexibility, competitive economics, and low emissions profile. Thus, natural gas is called to play a major role in the energy transition, supported by the industrialisation and power demand particularly in emerging countries in Asia and Africa…

Swedegas, the owner of the gas grid in Sweden, conducted the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering operation at its new facility at the Port of Gothenburg.Gothenburg-based shipping company Terntank was the very first operator to take on  LNG at a new bunkering facility, said the Swedish owner and operator of the high-pressure gas grid.Not only liquefied natural gas, LNG, but also liquefied biogas, LBG, it added.“Being able to offer this unique opportunity represents a major breakthrough, not only in facilitating the transition to LNG, but also in gradually increasing the proportion of renewable gas,” said Johan Zettergren, Chief Executive of Swedegas, which owns and runs the facility.The facility is the only one of its kind in Sweden, it claimed.

Australia’s Woodside Petroleum has signed a Cooperation Agreement with Chinese private sector gas distribution firm ENN Group under which the two companies will work together to explore a broad range of potential business opportunities.The Cooperation Agreement was signed at a ceremony in Zhoushan on behalf of Woodside by Executive Vice President Marketing Trading & Shipping Reinhardt Matisons and by ENN Group CEO Cheung Yip Sang.“Woodside’s aim is to grow our relationship with ENN Group, and we now plan to jointly investigate opportunities for cooperation in LNG marketing, trading and shipping,” Matisons said.“Other potential areas for cooperation include oil and gas exploration and production…

China's Sinopec Corp has teamed with Zhejiang Energy Group Co Ltd on a 3 million tonne-per-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in east China, with the first phase set for operation at end-2021, the state oil giant said on Wednesday.The project, to be built in Wenzhou of Zhejiang province, includes four tanks each able to store 200,000 cubic meters of LNG, a berth to dock tankers of 30,000 cubic meters to 266,000 cubic meters, as well as a 26-km (16-mile) pipeline.The two…

State-owned China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group (CERCG) on Monday said it is investigating whether to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Western Australia to the gas-hungry east coast market. The Chinese integrated energy firm, which runs oil and gas projects, processing plants and gas distribution, said in a press release to Reuters that subsidiary CERCG Australia is studying the viability of transporting LNG by road, rail and ship. CERCG Australia's business manager Kevin Gao said the company would use LNG container tanks which can maintain liquefaction for 110 days. "It should be possible for us to ship 100 or 200 of our 40-foot ISO containers, each containing 18 tonnes of LNG, from Australia's West Coast to customers on the East Coast," he said on Monday.

ENGIE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wärtsilä, a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets to develop solutions and services in the small scale LNG business. The cooperation covers four work streams: LNG for ships, LNG distribution in islands and remote areas, LNG to Power solutions and small scale LNG and bio liquefaction. Both ENGIE and Wärtsilä are committed to work for a low-carbon economy and shifting from coal or diesel towards LNG-solutions is an important step in the right direction. Through this partnership, both companies will share Wärtsilä’s technical expertise and Engineering Procurement and Construction capabilities and ENGIE’s technical expertise…

Following a successful Network Innovation Competition bid in 2015, DNV GL has secured innovation funding from SGN to partner in a project to demonstrate the viability and practical reality of a mixed-source, energy-centric gas network for the future. The project was developed, and will be delivered, in partnership with SGN who are one of the UK's key gas distribution operators, and industry leaders in innovation. The integrated energy network of the future must be flexible, secure, cost effective and above all safe. The changing gas industry, driven by a reduced North Sea supply is increasingly required to accommodate gas from more diverse sources such as biomethane and shale gas.

Danish wind farm developer DONG Energy, which analysts value as high as $13 billion, said on Thursday it plans to list its shares on the Copenhagen stock exchange this summer. Having built more than a quarter of the world's offshore wind farms, the company is a major player in Britain and Germany and has recently opened offices in the United States and Taiwan to cater for new growth markets. With a potential valuation as high as 85 billion Danish crowns (11.4 billion euros), Dong…

Chevron Corporation announced that its Australian subsidiaries have signed a non-binding Heads of Agreement (HoA) with ENN LNG Trading Company Limited (ENN) for the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China from the Chevron-operated Gorgon natural gas project in Australia. When the deal is finalized, ENN is expected to receive up to 0.5 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG over 10 years, with deliveries starting in 2018 or the first half of 2019. “This is one more step in the development of our Australian gas business and our global LNG portfolio…

Lithuania has put plans to buy liquefied natural gas from the United States on hold because the LNG is not yet suitable for the Baltic state's gas system, its state energy company said on Wednesday. Lithuania's system was built to use Russian gas and state energy group Lietuvos Energija said U.S. LNG was much more calorific than Russian gas. The country opened an LNG import terminal in the Baltic Sea at the end of 2014, which allowed it to start importing from Norway and end its total dependence on gas imports from its former Soviet master, Russia. "We are not buying gas from the U.S. at the moment, because the gas they are offering at the moment does not meet specifications needed for our gas distribution system," Ernesta Dapkiene, a spokeswoman for Lietuvos Energija, told Reuters.

Poland expects to receive its first cargo of liquefied natural gas at its new LNG terminal at the end of November or early December, the treasury minister was quoted as saying on Sunday. The terminal, being built in the Baltic city of Swinoujscie, is Poland's flagship project to diversify its gas supplies and reduce a dependence on Russia. The terminal had originally been scheduled to open in 2014 but has been delayed several times. Built at a cost of almost 3.5 billion zlotys ($942 million), the terminal is expected to be ready for full commercial use next May and is likely to reach full capacity by 2018, its operator said last month. Its construction is to be officially completed on Monday. "The gas, which will arrive now, will not be burnt ...

The Hague-based global energy giant Royal Dutch Shell is planning to establish a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the east coast of India at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Shell already has a 5 million tonne LNG terminal at Hazira in Gujarat set up nearly a decade back. The Hazira Terminal includes a LNG storage and re-gasification terminal within a fully functional port. The Andhra Pradesh government has recently decided to induct global oil major Shell with a 26 percent equity in the proposed special purpose vehicle (SPV) for setting up a floating, storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) for liquefied natural gas at Kakinada.

On July 17, 2015, Excelerate Energy L.P. completed the first Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer of LNG at the Engro Elengy LNG Terminal located in Port Qasim, Pakistan. Excelerate’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), EXQUISITE, received 130,000 cubic meters of LNG from the FSRU EXCELERATE using the double-banked LNG transfer system. This transfer also marks the company’s 500th commercial STS operation using the double-banked cryogenic transfer system technology developed by Excelerate. Commissioned in late March of this year, the terminal initially employed the EXQUISITE for both cargo delivery and regasification purposes. The terminal will continue to receive LNG supply via periodical STS transfers allowing for the continuous flow of gas into the local gas distribution system.

Excelerate Energy L.P. completed the first ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Engro Elengy LNG Terminal located in Port Qasim, Pakistan on July 17, 2015. Excelerate's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Exquisite received 130,000 cubic meters of LNG from the FSRU Excelerate using the double-banked LNG transfer system. This transfer also marks the company's 500th commercial STS operation using the double-banked cryogenic transfer system technology developed by Excelerate.

Those MarineNews readers who are not familiar with Bob Kunkel, probably should be. That’s because Kunkel, President of Alternative Marine Technologies, previously served as the Federal Chairman of the Short Sea Shipping Cooperative Program under the Maritime Administration and Department of Transportation from 2003 until 2008. A past Vice President of the Connecticut Maritime Association, he is a contributing writer for Maritime Professional Magazine and of course, MarineNews.

A condensate leak occurred on the Gudrun platform in the North Sea on February 18, 2015. The incident has been investigated by Statoil’s corporate investigation team which classifies it to be of the highest degree of seriousness. On the morning of February 18, noise and vibrations were reported on Gudrun, and shortly afterwards hydrocarbons were confirmed in the process module. There was a 2 mm wide crack extending approximately 90 percent across the circumference of a two-inch pipeline. Condensate had leaked from the pipeline and resulted in gas distribution.

Europe's largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell and French firm GDF Suez are likely to take 26 percent stake each in GAIL India Ltd’s proposed ‘floating LNG import terminal’ at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corp (APGDC) – a joint venture of GAIL Gas and Andhra Pradesh Gas Infrastructure Corp (APGIC) will have the remaining 48% share. Shell, GDF and GAIL on Thursday also signed an agreement to procure LNG for the project. The 3.5-million-tonne a year floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), was conceived in 2012. The partners will bring an FSRU, import gas in its liquefied form (LNG or liquefied natural gas) in ships to the terminal, pipe it to land and sell in Anhra Pradesh and beyond.