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Gas Supplies News

02 Jan 2024

Germany Builds up LNG Import Terminals

© JET-PIX / Adobe Stock

German utility RWE on Jan. 1 handed over floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure at Brunsbuettel on the North Sea to state-owned Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET) as agreed when first imports arrived 10 months ago, it said.DET is now the sole operational manager and markets the capacity of the Brunsbuettel Elbehafen LNG project.Germany's quest to increase LNG capacity for regasification on its shores has intensified as it seeks to end reliance on Russian pipeline gas…

08 Nov 2023

FOCUS-How Shipping More US Natural Gas to Europe Helped Fuel CO2 Pollution

Credit: alexlmx/AdobeStock

Carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. liquefied natural gas facilities have jumped to 18 million tons per year, up 81% since 2019, adding a volume of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere equivalent to that produced by several big coal plants, according to United States government data.They could more than double to 45 million tons per year by the end of the decade as new facilities, encouraged by soaring overseas demand for the super-cooled fuel, come online, according to company projections provided to the U.S.

24 Oct 2023

Finland Says Gas Pipeline Likely Broken by Ship Dragging Anchor

(Photo: Finnish Navy)

Damage to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline earlier this month is believed to have been caused by a ship dragging a large anchor along the seabed, but it was too early to tell if this was an accident or a deliberate act, Finnish police said on Tuesday.Investigators said they had now retrieved a lost anchor from the seabed location where the pipeline ruptured on Oct. 8, and were investigating whether it belonged to a Chinese container vessel.Police have previously said damage to the Balticconnector…

17 Oct 2023

Finland Terminal Receives First LNG Cargo after Pipeline Breach

FSRU Exemplar - Credit: Excelerate Energy

A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived at Finland's Inkoo terminal on Tuesday, vessel tracking data showed, the first such cargo to appear following the Oct. 8 outage of a Finnish-Estonian gas pipeline.The Maran Gas Vergina, carrying U.S. natural gas, docked next to the Exemplar floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), which was installed late last year to facilitate LNG imports and thus boost Finland's energy security.The cargo belongs to Finnish gas supplier Gasum…

18 Aug 2023

Poland's Orlen, Gaz-System Sign Gas Deal for Planned Floating Terminal

An LNG Tanker next to an FSRU unit - Image for illustration only  / Credit: KKF/AdobeStock

Poland's Orlen has signed a contract with state-owned pipeline operator Gaz-System for the regasification of up to 58 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes per year at a planned floating gas terminal, the energy company said on Friday.Poland has turned to seaborne LNG as well as gas piped from Norway via Denmark and the Baltic Sea to replace supply from Russia.The planned terminal is to be built on the Baltic Sea near Gdansk by the end of 2027 with an initial regasification capacity…

03 Aug 2023

Harsh Weather Offshore LNG Terminal Firm Crown to Merge with Catcha

Kakinada LNG terminal (Illustration by Aker Solutions)

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…

31 May 2023

Europe's Biggest Gas Supplier Says All Clear from Offshore Pipeline Security Checks

©pixone3d/AdobeStock

Inspections of Norway's offshore gas pipelines after the Nord Stream blasts found nothing suspicious, an executive at energy major Equinor told Reuters, in the first official word on the security sweep.However, risks remain after last year's still-unexplained explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines built to carry Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, warned Jannicke Nilsson, who manages security for Equinor.Europe's largest gas supplier after a drop in Russian flows last year, Equinor also acts as technical service provider for offshore pipelines operator Gassco.

23 May 2023

Germany Cannot be Relaxed about Baltic LNG Capacity, Senior Official Says

Illustration only - Credit: Karel/AdobeStock

Germany cannot be relaxed about the need for liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Baltic Sea, a high-ranking economy ministry official said on Monday, a week after plans emerged to scale down the region's Mukran project after local resistance. "We should not be relaxed about supply security in the next winter," said Stefan Wenzel, a parliamentary state secretary in the ministry led by Robert Habeck of the Green Party. "We cannot afford to be unprotected and we also have…

05 May 2023

Poland to Allow Military to Sink Enemy Ships Targeting Baltic Energy Infrastructure

Baltic Pipe - Credit: GAZ-SYSTEMS (File image)

The Polish government has approved draft legislation that would allow the military to sink an enemy ship targeting a key gas pipeline from Norway via the Baltic Sea following NATO's warning that Russia might sabotage undersea energy infrastructure. In "exceptional situations", and when other options had been exhausted, the military would be allowed to foil a terrorist attack by sinking an enemy ship or airship, the government said on Thursday. A key ally of Ukraine and a hub for deliveries of weapons to Kyiv, Poland says it has regularly found itself the target of Russian espionage.

17 Mar 2023

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

Credit: NATO ©CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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…

08 Mar 2023

Alaska's Qilak LNG Targets Asia with $5B Project to Compete with Russia

©alexlmx/AdobeStock

Qilak LNG plans to invest $5 billion in a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Alaska's North Slope to compete with Russia's Yamal project for Asian customers towards the end of this decade, its chief executive said. Major LNG importers such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are rethinking Russian supplies after sanctions on Moscow after it invaded Ukraine and more natural gas could be needed to produce lower emission and alternative fuels as nations try to reduce their carbon emissions.

06 Feb 2023

Italian Union Files Legal Complaint Against Snam's LNG Terminal

© bikemp / Adobe Stock

The Italian trade union USB filed a legal complaint against a plan by gas grid operator Snam to set up a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Tuscan port of Piombino, it said in a press release on Friday.USB alleged Snam had committed serious "environmental crimes" while performing works to build the terminal.USB criticised in the statement the choice to set up the terminal in an area already polluted by an old steel plant, saying regasification processes would increase…

29 Dec 2022

How Will Japan Resolve Shipping Insurance for Russian LNG imports?

Credit: Evgeny
/AdobeStock

Japan, the world's top liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, is facing its latest challenge in securing vital gas supplies from Russia after Western reinsurers said they would halt marine war insurance for ships travelling in Russian waters from Jan. 1.Having joined other G7 countries in imposing sweeping sanctions on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, Japan has been reducing its reliance on Russian oil and coal, but it continues to buy Russian LNG amid elevated prices in a tight…

23 Dec 2022

Italy's LNG Import Capacity and New Terminals

Italy plans to boost its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity to 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) from nearly 17 bcm currently as it seeks to completely replace Russian gas supplies following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.In 2021, Moscow provided Rome with 29 bcm of gas via pipelines, equal to around 40% of Italy's total imports but Russian supplies have fallen in recent months to around 10% of total imports. Italy, which can now count on three LNG terminals, has mandated gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI to buy and set up two additional floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) near the cities of Piombino and Ravenna.A timely start for the Piombino FSRU is crucial to allow Italy to fill gas storage facilities in time for winter 2023…

12 Dec 2022

Inside the Chinese Port Deal that Divided the German Government

© niemannfrank / Adobe Stock

The German government has become divided over a deal, agreed last month, which saw Chinese conglomerate Cosco invest in the Port of Hamburg. The deal had been in the works since September 2021 and was championed by the chancellor (and Hamburg’s former mayor), Olaf Scholz.Scholz’s coalition partners have been vocal in criticising the deal. Chief among them is Robert Habeck, Greens member and Scholz’s economics minister, who expressed his fear that Germany was becoming dependent on Chinese business.

09 Dec 2022

Barcelona-Marseille Hydrogen Subsea Pipeline to Cost Around 2B Euros

©alexyz3d/AdobeStock

An underwater pipeline to carry green hydrogen between Barcelona and Marseille will cost around 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion), according to preliminary estimates of the project agreed between Spain, Portugal and France, two sources told Reuters. It comes as an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine has accelerated European plans to bolster renewable energy as an alternative to Russian gas. Spain and Portugal aim to become clean hydrogen hubs and net energy exporters, causing…

14 Nov 2022

Freeport LNG to Miss Restart Target for Fire-damaged Texas Export Plant

© Andrey Sharpilo / Adobe Stock

The owner of the second-largest U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant has not yet provided regulators with a final repair plan, according to a person familiar with the matter, likely pushing any restart into the first quarter of next year.The outage since a fiery explosion in June has underscored the global demand for new gas supplies and required major LNG traders and customers of the roughly 16 million tonne per year processing facility to buy replacement cargoes at huge markups.Freeport LNG had pledged in August to restart gas-processing by early to mid-November…

10 Nov 2022

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.

08 Nov 2022

Italy's Emilia Romagna Backs New FSRU Terminal in Ravenna

Italy's Emilia Romagna region has approved a project for a new floating LNG terminal off the coast of Ravenna in the upper Adriatic sea, it said on Monday, part of the country's broader efforts to replace dwindling Russian gas supplies. Almost one billion euros ($998 million) in total will be invested in the project, Emilia Romagna's Economic Development Councillor Vincenzo Colla told a news conference. The clearance took only about four months to be secured -- rather than years for similar projects in the past. As part of its energy strategy, Italy is adding two floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) to its existing three facilities. One will be off Ravenna, the other moored in the Tuscan port of Piombino on the other coast.

01 Nov 2022

U.S. LNG Exports Dip in October

©alexlmx/AdobeStock

U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in October remained capped by plant outages, with producers shifting more cargoes to Asian buyers last month, according to Refinitiv Eikon tanker monitoring data, after of a pipeline leak cut supplies from Malaysia. LNG prices recently have cooled with Europe's gas storage levels rising to over 90% of target capacity and a slow start to winter. In Asia, however, a declaration of force majeure on gas supplies by Malaysian state-energy company Petronas PETR.KL  has LNG customers in Japan scrambling for alternative cargoes.

31 Oct 2022

Italy Commissioner Gives OK for New LNG Terminal in Piombino

© Uwe / Adobe Stock

A state-appointed commissioner in Italy on Tuesday gave his formal go-ahead to the set up of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the port of Piombino, on the western coast of the country.Preparatory works by gas grid operator Snam for the infrastructure can start on Wednesday, Commissioner Eugenio Giani said during a press conference in Florence.The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), which is part of a broader plan designed by the former government of Mario Draghi to replace dwindling Russian gas supplies, needs to be operational by end-March.The gas grid operator said

31 Oct 2022

Tuscany Requests Costly Compensations for New Italian LNG Terminal

(Photo: Snam)

The region of Tuscany has asked for hundreds of millions of euros in investments in exchange for allowing a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Tuscan port of Piombino, the Italian region said.In a statement on Monday, the region's administration said it had approved the new terminal, adding it was sending a list of requests to the national government.In June Italian state-controlled gas grid operator Snam bought a new floating storage and regasification unit (FRSU) in an effort to boost the country's energy security in the face of dwindling Russian gas supplies.Tuscany President E

18 Oct 2022

50-meter Section Missing from Damaged Nord Stream Pipeline

Nord Stream gas leak photographed by the Swedish Coast Guard on September 27

Damage to the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Europe was caused by powerful explosions, Danish police said on Tuesday, echoing earlier findings into leaks that erupted in the network under the Baltic Sea and that have been blamed on sabotage.In what a Swedish newspaper described as the first publicly released footage of damage to the system, film from a private drone appeared to show a gaping rupture in one pipe. Expressen reported a 50-meter section missing from one area of pipeline.Dwindling flows of gas from Russia…

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