World Gas Intelligence articles from April 2004

World Gas Intelligence archives from April 2004

LNG growing pains.
April 7, 2004... Qatar's recent moratorium on the launch of new LNG projects highlights a problem that endangers the worldwide LNG construction boom: a shortage of contractors to build liquefaction and regasifying facilities and of some of the key materials...

Cove Point gets most US LNG imports in Q1.
April 7, 2004... Dominion's Cove Point LNG receiving terminal in Maryland dominated the US LNG scene in the first quarter with a steady 580 million cubic foot per day average send-out, topping by some 25% Tractebel's Everett, Massachusetts, facility, the...

Syria contract award.
April 7, 2004... Syria has selected a Petro-Canada-led consortium that includes US independent Occidental and Petrofac, a company founded in Texas that's now based largely in the UK, to develop a non-associated gas field in its central Palmyra region (WGI Feb....

Mideast may join in China gas scramble.
April 7, 2004... With doubts about the viability of China's gas demand-development efforts now largely dispelled, the scramble for a piece of the action is heating up on all fronts. New Mideast exporters Iran and, potentially, Saudi Arabia may challenge...

Myanmar angling for pipeline to India.
April 7, 2004... Recently improved relations between India and Myanmar are likely to speed up development of a gas export pipeline to India, even as plans for a Bangladesh-to-India gas pipeline have collapsed (WGI Sep.24,p1). Myanmar has offered state...

Eni's regulatory pickle in Portugal, Italy.
April 7, 2004... Equity and capacity rights at Portugal's 5.2 billion cubic meter (3.8 million ton) per year LNG import terminal at Sines, Europe's newest, remain unresolved by last week's shareholder agreement on splitting up state-run oil and gas business...

Canadian firms seek Alaska pipeline role.
April 7, 2004... After years in which none of the relevant parties appeared interested in building a pipeline to move the vast gas reserves of the Alaska North Slope to markets in Canada and the US, a number of parties are suddenly scrambling for position. Most...

Ormen Lange launch.
April 7, 2004... Alter more than five years of planning, Norsk Hydro expects to start work in the next few weeks on the massive Ormen Lange gas field, having received the final green light from Norway's parliament, the Storting (WGI Dec.10,p5). Although...

$20 oil: the bottom line for exporters?
April 7, 2004... Find out with Energy Intelligence Research's new study, The Oil Supply Dilemma: The Financial Positions and Investment Needs of Major Oil Exporters, available now. This unique study analyses the economic position and financial and investment...

Market insight: unexpected US surge.(Insight)
April 7, 2004... Many traders were left dumbfounded by an eruption in US gas prices last week that seemingly struck from out of the blue. Bucking a plunging crude oil market, Henry Hub futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) surged toward the $6 per...

Dutch utilities oppose government's network spin-off plan.(Current)
April 7, 2004... A new government program to restructure the Dutch energy market has angered utilities because it includes a proposed law forcing them to split off and sell their energy distribution networks by Jan. 1, 2007. Proposals sent by Economy...

Chevron exec outlines plans for lengthy gas chain to US.(Horizon)
April 7, 2004... Chevron Texaco is turning to LNG and gas-to-liquids (GTL) projects to bring its 100 trillion cubic feet of worldwide gas reserves to market, mainly in the US, where its gas production has been declining and its marketing organizations "need a...

Proprietary US expansions.
April 14, 2004... The massive expansion planned at Dominion's Cove Point, Maryland, US LNG receiving terminal for the exclusive use of Norway's Statoil looks set to be the test case that extends to existing terminals the same proprietary, non-tariff-regulated...

Expensive plan for Bolivia LNG via Brazil.
April 14, 2004... Bolivian dreams of exporting gas to the US via the Pacific Ocean may well be doomed. And while an alternative route via Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean seems to be taking shape, costs will have to come down sharply first. So sharply that few...

Marathon advances in LNG projects.
April 14, 2004... In the wake of a glitch in efforts to finance a liquefaction project in Equatorial Guinea, the cancellation of a Mexican West Coast receiving terminal scheme, and questions about why its capacity at a US LNG receiving terminal has been sitting...

Gazprom in tight in Central Asia.
April 14, 2004... Russia's Gazprom is pressing ahead with its campaign to direct currently bottled-up Central Asia gas flows into the Russian transportation system, and perhaps later to expand its presence in upstream oil and gas projects in that region. A...

Lukoil sees Mideast gas opportunities.
April 14, 2004... Leading Russian oil major Lukoil is aiming to build up a substantial presence in the Mideast and North Africa over the next decade, according to Andrei Kuzyaev, president of overseas upstream arm Lukoil Overseas. And much of it is likely to...

EdF, GdF not for sale.
April 14, 2004... "There will be no privatization of Electricite de France and Gaz de France," French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin declared last week, thus drawing the shutters down on any meaningful equity sale in the country's two state energy giants....

Algeria's in Salah gas.
April 14, 2004... BP, Statoil and Sonatrach are on schedule to start commercial production at their In Salah gas project in Algeria by June or July, a BP spokesman told WGI this week (WGI Jun.25,p4). Production testing is currently under way, with only 1%-2% of...

Malaysia's new hubs.
April 14, 2004... Consolidating its position as the main producer for Malaysia's domestic gas market, Exxon Mobil has begun construction of a gas compression platform that would form part of an offshore gas production hub under a 50-50 production sharing...

Japan and the new LNG model.
April 14, 2004... Don't write off the Japanese yet as a force in shaping the future direction of global LNG markets. And partly as a result, don't assume that the Trinidad-style "dis-integration" of the LNG supply chain that marks the so-called "New LNG Model"...

Market insight: Korean uncertainties.(Insight)
April 14, 2004... South Korean monopoly LNG importer Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) is wondering how domestic gas demand will shape up in the fiscal year just begun, given the skewed consumption patterns seen last year. Initial indications are that 2004 could again...

US object lesson on political support for wind energy.(Current)
April 14, 2004... The continued dependence of wind energy on consistent political backing quickly became apparent when a flock of industry delegates from around the world blew into an international wind energy conference in blustery Chicago last month. ...

Gas demand growth strong in 2003 in most IEA states.(Horizon)
April 14, 2004... North America, the European Union (EU) and Japan each saw gas demand increase by about 6%-7% last year from 2002, according to preliminary data on member countries from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The pattern of growth was not...

Pertamina boss talks LNG.
April 21, 2004... Instead of clearly separating the roles of regulator and marketer, Indonesia's 2001 gas deregulation fomented a bitter turf war that continues to this day (WGI Mar.31,p1). Even so, state Pertamina Chief Executive Ariffi Nawawi told WGI in...

US chemicals wilt under hot gas prices.
April 21, 2004... The prolonged contraction in gas consumption by the US chemical sector shows no sign of abating. Last week, DuPont, the nation's second-largest chemical maker, announced plans to lay off 6% of its workforce, or 3,500 positions, this year. ...

Libyan gas gains more momentum.
April 21, 2004... Gas development in Libya continues to gain momentum, as sanctions start to fall away. Royal Dutch/Shell General Manager for Libya Peter Osborne termed the heads of agreement that Shell signed last month to participate in the Libyan...

Spain's gas natural moves upstream.
April 21, 2004... Spain's Gas Natural (GN) last week set out a five-year investment plan including, for the first time, direct participation in Repsol YPF-led upstream projects--another sign of growing assertiveness by the Barcelona savings bank La Caixa that...

Battle for Dabhol assets heats up.
April 21, 2004... Bechtel and GE earlier this month obtained a US Bankruptcy Court order authorizing them to buy Enron's 65% equity stake in India's Dabhol Power Co. But Indian lenders to the project warn that they will challenge the US court's jurisdiction. ...

Turkey pursues drive for gas price cuts.
April 21, 2004... Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler announced last month that Turkey had launched an international arbitration process aimed at resolving differences with Iran over gas imports--although the two countries are also still talking directly. ...

Trinidad strike impact.
April 21, 2004... A new schedule has yet to be hammered out, but it seems likely that a now-settled labor dispute that halted construction on Trinidad's Atlantic LNG Train 4 for over two months will cause a slide in the targeted August 2005 completion date. ...

UK terminal gets nod.
April 21, 2004... Britain's energy regulator Ofgem said last week that the European Commission had agreed to exempt what could become the world's largest LNG import terminal from the normal European Union requirement that it provide access to third parties...

French regulator acts.
April 21, 2004... French energy regulator CRE says the country's two main gas suppliers--Gaz de France (GdF) and Total affiliate Gaz de Sud-Ouest (GSO)--have agreed at its request to implement a three-year gas release program starting Jan. 1, 2005, in order to...

Market insight: slow UK probe.(Insight)
April 21, 2004... The UK gas market isn't behaving like the poster child for gas-on-gas competition that deregulation proponents would like. Nor is Britain's well-established energy regulator Ofgem spreading satisfaction widely among end-users. The results...

IPE gas futures.(Insight)
April 21, 2004... IPE GAS FUTURES Contract Apr. 19 Week's Apr. 19 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu May. '04 19.98 20.30/19.45 3.58 Jun. 19.57 19.70/19.19 3.51 Jul. 20 20.38/19.80 3.58...

Nymex gas futures.(Insight)
April 21, 2004... NYMEX GAS FUTURES Contract Apr. 19 Week's Apr. 12 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu May. '04 5.509 6.02/5.50 6.009 Jun. 5.597 6.10/5.59 6.094 Jul. 5.672 ...

European border prices estimates.(Insight)
April 21, 2004... EUROPEAN BORDER PRICES ESTIMATES Prices Effective Apr. '04 (US$ per Million Btu) Algeria From/To: CIS Netherlands Norway LNG * Belgium ...

State of confusion remains in California energy markets.(Current)
April 21, 2004... After three years, California is closing the chapter on the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the state's largest utility. PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, at the height of the California energy crisis--becoming...

Australian government helps competing LNG projects.(Horizon)
April 21, 2004... The era in which LNG from Australia was synonymous with the North West Shelf project is ending: The ConocoPhillips-led Bayu-Undan project in the Timor Sea is set for completion in 2006, ChevronTexaco is hoping to launch the Gorgon project...

China's upstream demand.
April 28, 2004... The Chinese government is likely to make upstream equity for Chinese companies in gas reserves in exporting countries a basic criterion for the approval of future LNG import projects. Beijing will introduce new policies in July to speed up...

Indonesia's innovative pending Sempra deal.
April 28, 2004... Indonesia is finalizing terms for a binding LNG sales and purchase agreement with Sempra Energy that may set precedents important for both the Atlantic and Pacific Basins. While the primary destination is expected to be the Costa Azul...

Alaska pipeline set to be Canadian-owned.
April 28, 2004... Could the planned gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to markets in Canada and the US lower-48 states end up as a largely, or even totally, Canadian-owned venture? The answer looks more like a "yes" with every passing day, as more...

Libya sets ambitious gas export targets.
April 28, 2004... Libya is targeting gas exports of 4 billion-5 billion cubic feet per day in eight to ten years--roughly 40 billion-50 billion cubic meters per year by 2012-14--National Oil Co. (NOC) upstream team head Azzam Mesallati told journalists at a...

Gazprom aims for more secure exports.
April 28, 2004... The brief cutoff in Russian gas supplies to Belarus and customers beyond last February has set off a flurry of activity by Gazprom on the storage front aimed at mitigating the effects of any future supply cuts--a sign that the company is...

Rival euro hubs unite.
April 28, 2004... Spurred on by traders, two rival gas trading hubs on the Dutch and German border have joined forces and will spend the next few months attending to traders' needs in an effort to boost lagging volumes--in hopes that the revamped trading system...

Sakhalin split.
April 28, 2004... While the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 venture on Russia's Pacific Coast continues to increase sales volumes, the Exxon Mobil-led Sakhalin-1 project is coming under attack from Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov for failing to market its gas....

Iran warns Qatar not to "overproduce".
April 28, 2004... Just as state National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) is gearing up to move 'ahead at last on its own LNG development, a senior Iranian official has for the first time openly accused Qatar of overproducing gas at its giant Noah Field--which is part of...

Market insight: Asian LNG thirst.(Insight)
April 28, 2004... BG's Lake Charles receiving terminal in the US remains the destination of last resort for spot LNG cargoes, as Asian and Mediterranean buyers hold the edge in a race for supply left short by Algeria's Skikda outage and production shortfalls in...

Gas, wind fail to unseat king coal in German power sector.(Current)
April 28, 2004... The future of Germany's power industry will be shaped in part by the outcome of ongoing European Union deliberations on carbon emissions trading, as well as by Germany's own continued promotion of renewable energy as it moves to phase out...

Europe still struggling as LNG tanker boom fills Asian yards.(Horizon)
April 28, 2004... Frenzied LNG tanker ordering over the past 24 months--culminating with this week's BG order for four standard 145,000 cubic meter ships from Samsung to be delivered in 2007-08--has left the Japanese and South Korean shipyards that have...