State Gas News

Poland could build a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) next to an already planned installation because the Czech Republic and Slovakia are interested in buying more liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Polish climate minister said.Czech Republic and Slovakia are seeking alternatives to cut reliance on Russian supplies. Slovakia's state gas firm SPP struck deals to buy enough piped Norwegian gas and LNG to cover about 65% of its demand until the end of next year. Read full storyPoland plans to open an FSRU unit on the Baltic Sea near Gdansk in 2026.

The U.S. Senate will vote on Thursday on a bill being pushed by Republican Ted Cruz to slap sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in Europe, although it is not expected to garner enough support to pass.The bill is scheduled for a vote at around 2:45 p.m. ET (1945 GMT), according to Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.Cruz struck a deal with Democrats last month to get a vote before Jan. 14 on the Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline in exchange for lifting his hold on dozens of Democratic President Joe Biden's ambassador nominations.Under the deal…

The suspension of the approval process for the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline by a German regulator could be short-lived as Europe is hungry for more gas, an analyst said on Monday after meeting officials of Russian state gas giant Gazprom.Last week, Germany's energy regulator temporarily halted the certification process for the new pipeline that will carry Russian gas into Europe, throwing up a new roadblock to the contentious project and driving up regional gas prices.German…

Two tankers carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Mexico are expected to arrive on Thursday in the country's Altamira and Manzanillo ports, government officials said and Refinitiv Eikon data showed, part of emergency purchases by the government to ease interrupted gas supplies.Mexico resorted to LNG supplies to partially offset a gas deficit for power generation after cold-weather froze several key gaslines crossing the U.S. border. The governor of Texas on Wednesday banned out-of-state gas supplies through Feb. 21 to prioritize the state's utilities.The Latin American nation is also ramping up electricity generation for its…

The United States is urging European allies and private companies to halt work that could help build the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and is preparing wider sanctions on the Russian project in coming weeks, senior Trump administration officials said on Wednesday.The outgoing Trump administration is readying a fresh round of congressionally mandated sanctions “in the very near future” that it believes could deal a fatal blow to the Russia-to-Germany project led by state gas company Gazprom, three officials said.“We’ve been getting body blow on body blow to this, and now we’re in the process of driving a stake through the project heart…

At the end of 2019 – December 27, to be exact – the US Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary – filed a request for information regarding the development of a National Freight Strategic Plan (NFSP), required by the multi-year federal transportation bill, passed in 2015, called the FAST Act – “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation.”By the close of the public comment period (Feb. 10) DOT had received 82 comments. Importantly, for the maritime industry, maritime businesses and trade groups…

A Russian pipe-laying vessel Academic Cherskiy which Moscow can use to finish laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas project, has moored near the German logistics hub in Mukran, Refinitiv Eikon tracking data showed on Monday.Led by the state gas company Gazprom, Nord Stream 2 had to suspend pipelaying works late last year, hit by fresh U.S. sanctions. The project is aimed at doubling existing undersea flows to Germany to 110 billion cubic meters per year.Cherskiy, bought by Gazprom in 2016, has sailed from the Russian Pacific port of Nakhodka where it was docked in December when the U.S. sanctions put the plan to finish the remaining 160-km stretch near the Danish island of Bornholm on hold…

Poland's state gas company PGNiG says it had notified Russia's Gazprom that it will not renew their long-term deal on liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies when the agreement expires after 2022.In accordance with the provisions of the Yamal Contract, three years prior to its original termination date, i.e. by December 31st, 2019, the parties are required to submit a declaration whether or not they intend to continue their contractual relationship beyond 2022.Gazprom Export, the gas-exporting arm of state-controlled Gazprom, confirmed in a statement to Reuters that it had received the notification from PGNiG.“In line with the Republic of Poland’s aspiration to achieve security of energy supplies and seeking to deliver the PGNiG Group’s current strategy…

New South Wales Government is considering a proposal for a $590 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in the Port of Newcastle, with the project given critical state significance.Under the prosposal, the terminal will be built at Kooragang Island in Newcastle Port and promises to supply NSW with up to 80 per cent of its gas requirements.The Newcastle GasDock project - with an estimated direct onshore investment of up to AUD$250M at the Port - today received Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) status from NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, the Hon Rob Stokes MP.The announcement by Acting Premier John Barilaro and Mr Stokes recognises the need to significantly increase local gas supply…

Russia's largest non-state gas producer Novatek has delivered a first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to Spain from its Vysotsk plant, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.Novatek, Russia's top LNG producer, officially launched the Vysotsk plant on the Baltic Sea in April.According to the data, Novatek shipped a cargo of 9,500 cubic metres (6,000 tonnes) to the port of El Ferrol in Spain on June 15.The first line of Vysotsk plant has a capacity of 660,000 tonnes of frozen gas per year. Novatek has plans of expanding it by over 1.1 million tonnes annually with a second train.Refinitiv Eikon shipping data also showed the plant has shipped around 27 cargoes of LNG with total volumes of 250,000 cubic metres (around 160,000 tonnes) to Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Vitol said that the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas project offshore Ghana has commenced delivery of gas from the Sankofa field to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).Both Vitol and GNPC are partners in the OCTP project alongside operator Eni. The offshore project is expected to provide stable supplies of cost effective and environmentally friendly, domestic fuel for the Ghanaian power sector, said Vitol.The estimated net cost of gas to Ghana will be less than $4.5/MMBtu, greatly reducing Ghana’s fuel costs compared to liquid fuels or imported gas.The project will provide approximately 180 MMscf/d for at least 15 years, sufficient to supply half of Ghana’s power generation requirements.

Russian gas producer Novatek aims to topple Qatar as the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas as it gets closer to completing its first LNG project, a top executive said, batting away concerns about U.S. sanctions on the sector. The country's largest non-state gas producer is expected to start exporting LNG from the first phase of the Yamal project, situated far above the Arctic circle, towards the end of this year and may bring forward its final stage by six months, CFO Mark Gyetvay said.

Russian Energy Minister said on Wednesday Japan was interested in taking part in projects to produce liquefied natural gas in the Arctic. "Japan today shows its interest in increasing cooperation in the Arctic, including construction of a plant to produce liquefied natural gas," Novak said in comments shown on Rossiya-24 TV station. He didn't specify what was the project that Japan was interested in. Russian largest non-state gas producer Novatek said earlier it planned to build new facilities to produce LNG in the Arctic.     (Reporting Vladimir Soldatkin)

The state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC), and ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. have executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form a joint venture company (JV) to market liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Alaska LNG project. AGDC said the joint venture would also focus on buying North Slope gas and pursue support of other major North Slope producers in the formation. The JV's ultimate goal is to bring global LNG buyers and North Slope wellhead sellers together. According to Alaska Dispatch News, the JV will also try to bring ExxonMobil and BP into the joint venture, according to a statement from the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., the state corporation that represents Alaska in the $55 billion Alaska LNG project.

Russia's largest non-state gas producer Novatek said on Thursday its shareholders would decide on a new loan worth $600 million for the Yamal LNG project on June 20, according to Interfax news agency. The $27 billion Yamal LNG project envisages three liquefied natural gas (LNG) production lines with a capacity of 5.5 million tonnes a year each. The gas the project produces would be exported to world markets. Novatek has a 50.1 percent stake in what will be only Russia's second LNG plant. France's Total and China's CNPC hold 20 percent each.

Egypt will tender next week to import 10 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for delivery in July and August, an official from the state gas company, EGAS, said on Thursday. The official said Egypt would consider importing a further 10 cargoes of LNG, either through direct contracts or through a further international tender, once next week's tender is complete. Egypt relies to a large extent on LNG to generate electricity for its 90 million people. Reporting by Ehab Farouk

Egypt will receive the first of five agreed shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Rosneft this month, an official at the state gas board EGAS told Reuters on Thursday. Last year Egypt and Rosneft signed a memorandum of understanding for a slew of petroleum products as well as 24 LNG cargoes. Only five of the 24 initially agreed cargoes were later inked into a final deal. "We're receiving the first shipments of LNG from Rosneft this month out of the five shipments that were agreed upon," said the EGAS official, declining to provide the value of the shipment or its size. Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer because of declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption.

GAIL India has deferred a USD 7-billion tender for hiring nine newly-built ships to ferry liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US by one month. Bids for the tender were to close on February 29 but now have been extended to March 31. The state gas utility is seeking 9 LNG ships of cargo capacity of 1,50,000-1,80,000 cubic metres to help transport LNG it has tied up from Sabine Pass and Cove Point LNG projects in the US, with supplies slated to start from December 2017. Press Trust of India quoted GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi as saying: "The postponement has been done at the request of bidders to allow them time to finalise their bids. GAIL India  is the largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India.

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.

A second liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal arrived in Egypt without cargo on Wednesday and will start operating in the third week of October, state gas board EGAS head Khaled Abdel Badie told Reuters. The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) provided by Singapore-based Norwegian gas shipping company BW Gas will allow Egypt to import LNG and reconvert it to natural gas to feed into the energy-starved country's power grid. Reporting by Abdelrahman Adel

The Alaska LNG project marks another significant milestone with today’s announcement by the United States Department of Energy that it has conditionally authorized the Alaska LNG Project LLC to export liquefied natural gas to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. The application to export up to 20 million metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas from Alaska for a 30-year period was submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy last July. Authorization to export to nations with existing free trade agreements with the U.S. was previously received in November 2014. Today’s announcement conditionally further expands the authorization to include non-Free Trade Agreement countries as well.

The Alaska LNG project marks another milestone with today’s announcement by the United States Department of Energy that it has conditionally authorized the Alaska LNG Project LLC to export liquefied natural gas to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. The application to export up to 20 million metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas from Alaska for a 30-year period was submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy last July. Authorization to export to nations with existing free trade agreements with the U.S. was previously received in November 2014. Today’s announcement conditionally further expands the authorization to include non-Free Trade Agreement countries as well. “We are very pleased with the progress this represents,” said Steve Butt, Alaska LNG senior project manager.

Egypt has issued a five-year tender to lease a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, the head of the state gas board told Reuters on Monday, seeking to tackle an energy crisis. Egypt was once an energy exporter but declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption has forced the government to divert energy supplies to the domestic market, turning the country into a net energy importer. "We launched yesterday a tender to lease a second LNG import terminal for a period of five years. We have sent it to eight international companies and we expect to get a reply within a week," Khaled Abdel Badie said in a telephone interview. The floating regasification and import terminal, which converts super-cooled LNG into gas, would be Egypt's second.