Tony Nunan News

Shell’s QGC business, along with its joint venture partners CNOOC and Tokyo Gas, have shipped the 500th cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its LNG plant on Curtis Island, Queensland.The cargo will be delivered by Gladstone’s namesake vessel, the GasLog Gladstone, Shell said.Shell’s QGC Vice President East, Tony Nunan said: “The 500th LNG cargo safely completed loading today from our plant on Curtis Island, five years since the first cargo set sail.“It takes commitment and collaboration to safely and efficiently develop, process and supply gas to both domestic and international markets. Everyone involved should be very proud of the work taken to reach this important milestone.“Thanks goes to our Joint Venture Partners CNOOC and Tokyo Gas…

Spot LNG exports in government's cross-hairs; ConocoPhillips, Origin, Shell now in the firing line. The Australian government on Monday warned that the country's east faced a worse-than-expected natural gas shortfall in 2018, but the competition watchdog said the gap could easily be filled by diverting uncontracted exports to the local market. It is now up to the government to decide by Nov. 1 whether to pull the trigger on its Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism, which allows it to curb liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the nation's east coast if it determines there will be a shortfall in any year. The supply gap identified…

Harvey closed nearly a quarter of U.S. refining capacity; helping to push WTI-Brent spread to widest in two years. Some oil traders in Asia are looking to snap up crude cargoes from the United States after Hurricane Harvey closed U.S. refineries, denting local demand and pushing out the price spread between U.S and Atlantic Basin crude benchmarks. Hurricane Harvey barrelled into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast around 10 days ago, closing nearly a quarter of the nation's refining capacity, although some of that is now coming back online. The closures pushed the prompt-month spread between West Texas Intermediate crude and Brent crude to the widest in two years at nearly $6 a barrel last week, prompting Asian traders to hunt for competitively priced U.S crude.

Oil traded slightly lower below $99 a barrel on Thursday, pressured by ample supply and concern over the weakening of demand growth in major consumer nations, as well as a rise in the U.S. dollar. Threats to supply as Libya's output fell and talk of OPEC production cuts limited the decline for global benchmark Brent, which hit a 26-month low on Monday after data showing a slowdown in China's factory output raised demand concerns. "At present, it is mainly news of (possible) lower OPEC production that is lending prices buoyancy," said Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. Brent was down 19 cents at $98.78 by 1341 GMT. Prices have declined around 15 percent from a nine-month peak of $115.71 reached in June. U.S. crude fell 10 cents to $94.32 a barrel.

Brent crude dropped below $98 a barrel on Thursday, falling for the sixth straight session, as worries about ample supply and weak demand, which have dragged prices to 17-month lows, outweighed geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. The market was concerned about the impact of the expansion of U.S. military action, with its plans for air strikes in Syria and more attacks in Iraq, on the latter's oil output, said Phin Ziebell, economist at the National Australia Bank in Melbourne. "More broadly, it's one of supply with the U.S. boosting output from unconventional sources, while demand is pretty flat," Ziebell said. Brent climbed in…