Successful Asia Pacific Maritime 2026 Closes
The 19th Asia Pacific Maritime (APM) held its largest-ever edition in Singapore last week, welcoming 19,431 attendees, alongside more than 819 exhibitors from 41 regions and countries, including 20 pavilions, and 112 speakers from across the globe. Amid the strong turnout, APM saw a significant number of announcements, covering product launches and the inking of partnerships, signalling strong momentum for advancing the industry and underscoring the industry’s unwavering confidence in Asia’s premier maritime event and conference.Yeow Hui Leng…
Oil Prices Rise As Iranian Attacks on UAE Continue
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Tuesday, as renewed Iranian attacks on the United Arab Emirates heightened concerns about the worsening outlook for global supply if there is no quick resolution to U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week.Brent crude futures gained $1.33, or 1.3%, to $101.53 a barrel by 1515 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude advanced $1.21, or 1.3%, to $94.71.The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran shows no signs of abating. While oil futures have not repeated the brief surge to nearly $120 a barrel from earlier in the month…
US Delays Rule on Gulf of Mexico Whale Protection
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will delay by two years a final rule designating protections for the endangered Rice's whale in the oil and gas drilling region of the Gulf of Mexico, according to an agreement with environmental groups filed in a federal court.The U.S. Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service agreed with green group Natural Resources Defense Council to finalize by July 15, 2027 the geographic area deemed critical for the Rice's whale survival. The previous deadline had been Tuesday, July 15, of this year.The agreement filed in the U.S.
Opinion: The U.S. Ships for America Act … In a Corked Bottle
As a result of a major White House office wake-up call or Executive Order 14269 determining it is time to start building ships again, Washington DC announced America’s maritime industry has been “dangerously declining” and with that decline we have allowed China to become the dominant force in global shipbuilding. Hard to believe that for nearly 65 years we have overlooked how Japan first got ahead of us or the fact that Korea took the lead not soon after Japan. All that progress was ignored prior to anyone worrying about China.
Trump's Tariffs a Boost for European and Asian Refiners
U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs on Canadian and Mexican oil imports will offer European and Asian refineries a competitive advantage against their U.S. rivals, analysts and market participants told Reuters.Trump on Saturday ordered 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on goods from China starting on Tuesday to address a national emergency over fentanyl and illegal aliens entering the U.S., White House officials said. Energy products from Canada will have only a 10% duty…
Canadian Energy Associations Push Back on Trump Threat
Five of Canada’s largest energy-focused industry associations have formed a joint working group to support the push against the threat of a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods from the incoming U.S. President, Donald Trump.The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), Pathways Alliance, Enserva, the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (EPAC), and the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC) are working together to support cross-Canada efforts to prevent…
MDL Assists Saipem on Gastrade’s LNG Development Off Greece
Maritime Developments (MDL) has assisted Saipem in progressing an LNG project offshore Greece, which included work on the connection of Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) to the country’s gas transmission system.The project consisted of a FSRU and a mooring and pipeline system, connecting the floating unit to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGTS).An MDL flex-lay spread was used for the installation of two flexible risers…
Oil Industry, Green Groups Challenge Biden Offshore Drilling Plan
Oil and gas companies and environmental groups on Monday filed dueling legal challenges to the Biden administration's five-year plan to offer drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico.The petitions to a U.S. appeals court come four months after the Interior Department unveiled a congressionally-mandated plan for offshore leasing that included just three sales, the lowest since the government began publishing the schedules in 1980.The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas trade group…
Gastrade’s FSRU Alexandroupolis Reaches Greece
Gastrade’s new floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) has arrived to Greece after completing an almost 10-month conversion at the Seatrium shipyard in Singapore.The FSRU, dubbed Alexandroupolis, sailed away from Singapore on November 26, and has now entered the waters of the Thracian Sea. In the following days, the FSRU will be anchored through a spread 12-point mooring system, ahead of connection to the high-pressure subsea and onshore gas transmission pipeline.The pipeline…
Gastrade Awards Alexandroupolis LNG Terminal Towage Contract to Svitzer
A.P. Moller-Maersk's towage arm Svitzer announced it has signed a 15-year agreement to service Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (Alexandroupolis INGS) LNG terminal—the first offshore LNG project in Greece—set to become operational in the beginning of 2024. The project marks Svitzer’s entry into the Greek market.Svitzer will set up towage services and support for LNG operations at the new import terminal, including support for a floating storage regasification…
Greece: Alexandroupolis Port Gets $26M EU Funding
Greece has secured 24 million euros ($26 million) in European Union funding to upgrade its northern Aegean Sea port of Alexandroupolis, privatization agency HRADF said on Wednesday.Alexandroupolis, which is close to Bulgaria and Turkey, has been used by U.S.
US Needs Until Year-end to Complete Offshore Drilling Plan
The Biden administration needs until the end of this year to finalize a long-awaited five-year plan for offshore oil and gas development in federal waters, according to court documents filed this week.The U.S. has been without a congressionally-mandated five year schedule of offshore oil and gas auctions since the previous one expired in June 2022. The process is being closely watched by the oil and gas industry, which has pressed for more leasing to boost domestic fuel supplies, and by environmentalists, who say drilling conflicts with President Joe Biden's promise to fight climate change.
Greece's First FSRU Project Starts with Conversion at Keppel
Work has begun to develop Greece’s first Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) at the Keppel shipyard in Singapore, with the conversion of GasLog’s DNV classed LNGC Gaslog Chelsea, recently renamed Alexandroupoli.Following conversion, FSRU Alexandroupoli will serve as an offshore storage and regasification facility and will be part of the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (INGS). The 155,000-cbm LNG carrier, recently reflagged to the Greek flag, is the first FSRU conversion under the Greek Flag for operation in the Aegean Sea.
Gastrade Sees Decision On Second LNG Terminal This Year
Greece’s Gastrade said on Thursday it expects to take a final investment decision on developing a second gas floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) off the country’s northern port of Alexandroupolis by the end of the year.With Europe racing to cut its reliance on Russian gas in the wake of the war in Ukraine, Greece is slowly becoming a key transit route for LNG in southeastern Europe.Last year, Athens replaced much of Russian pipeline gas by ramping up deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG)…
Supreme Court Sides With Offshore Worker in Overtime Case
An oil rig supervisor who earned more than $200,000 a year working for Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc is entitled to overtime pay, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a decision with costly implications for the oil and gas industry.The court in a 6-3 decision authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan decided that because the rig supervisor, Michael Hewitt, was paid a daily rate of $963 and not a salary, an overtime pay exemption in federal wage law for highly paid workers did not apply to him.The justices affirmed a 2021 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.
Greek LNG Terminals in the Pipeline
As demand grows for liquefied natural gas in Europe in the wake of the war in Ukraine, Greece has relied heavily on its sole LNG terminal off Athens to replace Russian gas imports.Now it is looking to build new floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) that could be operational by 2024.Here is information on the Revithoussa terminal and other planned projects:REVITHOUSSAGreece's sole operational LNG regasification and storage terminal on the Revithoussa islet off Athens…
Gasunie to Charter New Fortress Energy FSRU to Reduce Dutch Reliance on Russian Gas
New Fortress Energy has executed a binding agreement to charter a floating storage and regasification unit (“FSRU”) to Dutch energy network operator Gasunie, in an effort by the Netherlands to reduce Russian gas imports. The chartered FSRU will provide storage capacity of approximately 170,000 m3 of liquefied natural gas with peak regasification capacity of 900 mmscfd. New Fortress Energy's FSRU will work in tandem with a third party’s FSRU to provide up to 8 bcm per year of total regas capacity.
Germany to Charter Four FSRUs in Push to Cut Reliance on Russian Gas
The German government on Thursday signed agreements for the charters of four floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), as it works to become less reliant on Russian gas, as FSRUs will enable it to import LNG from other sources.The agreements were signed for the charters of two FSRUs owned by Oslo-listed firm Hoegh LNG, and two owned by Dynagas. Hoegh LNG FSRUs will be operated by RWE, while Uniper has facilitated the charter of two FSRUs managed by Dynagas Ltd.Höegh LNG said that the detailed FSRU contracts with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action…
Kick-off Ceremony Held for Realization of Alexandroupolis FSRU in Greece
The kick-off ceremony for the realization of Gastrade SA's LNG FSRU facility in Alexandroupolis, Greece, was held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in the old Storage House of the Alexandroupolis Port Customs.Once delivered, the FSRU, with a capacity of 153,500 c.m. of LNG, will be moored in the offshore area 17.6 km southwest of the port of Alexandroupolis. It will be connected to the National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGΤS) of Greece with a 28 km long pipeline, through which the gasified LNG will be transmitted to the markets of Greece…
Keppel Offshore & Marine Reels in $186M in New Contracts
Singapore's Keppel Offshore & Marine said Wednesday it had secured contracts worth around S$250 million (~$186 million) for the conversion of a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), integration of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, and the "jumboisation" of two Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHD).For the first contract, Keppel Shipyard has received the Final Notice to Proceed (FNTP) from GAS-fifteen Ltd, a GasLog Carriers subsidiary, for the conversion of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carrier into an FSRU.
China Looks to Lock in US LNG as Energy Crunch Raises Concerns
Major Chinese energy companies are in advanced talks with U.S. exporters to secure long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG)supplies, as soaring gas prices and domestic power shortages heighten concerns about the country's fuel security, several sources said.At least five Chinese firms, including state major Sinopec Corp and China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and local government-backed energy distributors like Zhejiang Energy, are in discussions with U.S. exporters, mainly Cheniere Energy and Venture Global…
U.S. Judge Orders Resumption in Federal Drilling Auctions
A federal judge in Louisiana on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration's pause on oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters, dealing a setback to a key White House effort to address climate change.The order granted a preliminary injunction to Louisiana and 12 other states that sued Democratic President Joe Biden and the Interior Department over the freeze on new drilling auctions. Louisiana is a major hub for offshore oil and gas production.Biden paused the government's leasing auctions in January pending a review that is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Bulgartransgaz Takes 20% Stake in Greece's Gastrade
Bulgartransgaz, the operator of the national natural gas transmission network of Bulgaria, has officially taken a 20% share in Greek company Gastrade that is developing an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) offshore Alexandroupolis. The agreement for Bulgartransgaz to take a 20 percent stake in Gastrade was signed back in August 2020. Following the approval granted by the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition, the transaction became effective on Thursday, January 28.