World Gas Intelligence articles from April 2005

World Gas Intelligence archives from April 2005

Russia eyes price reform.
April 6, 2005... Russia's Gazprom has won guarded support from President Vladimir Putin for the liberalization of gas prices charged to domestic industrial consumers (WGI Mar. 17'04,p1). Any substantial movement in this direction would be a major boon not only...

Spanish thirst for LNG starting to ease.
April 6, 2005... After watching spot prices for LNG soar to record levels over the past winter in Europe, buyers on that side of the Atlantic appear set to take a breather during the coming spring shoulder months--potentially clearing up supply for the US. ...

Commodity, equity investors unite.
April 6, 2005... Could a growing trend toward cross-holdings in energy commodities and equities be underpinning bullishness in global crude oil and North American natural gas markets, threatening to create a bubble similar to the one that propelled tech stocks...

Open access arrives at French terminals.
April 6, 2005... Even though France was one of the laggards in adopting the European open-access rules for gas infrastructure, it now seems to be making rapid strides in that direction. Not only was France one of the first European Union members to turn 2003...

India's private gas firms challenge gail.
April 6, 2005... Foreign and domestic gas companies in India have rallied together under a new umbrella organization dubbed Gas Industry Group (GIG) to suggest extensive changes in national gas transmission and distribution policy. The proposed changes would...

Gorgon gets backing.
April 6, 2005... ChevronTexaco's Gorgon LNG project moved a step closer to reality this week with a framework agreement between the venture's three participants--ChevronTexaco, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch/Shell--to combine the massive gas reserves of the...

UK's grain tripling.
April 6, 2005... National Grid Transco (NGT), owner and operator of the UK's soon-to-open Isle of Grain LNG import terminal, has found takers for 9 billion of the l0 billion cubic meters of incremental capacity that it offered to shippers in a tender last year:...

Dutch-UK pipe links.
April 6, 2005... Dutch gas grid Gas Transport Services (GTS) expects to make "substantial future investments" in its national system in order to meet growing demand. It is already holding talks with foreign and domestic parties, and will decide "in the course...

Bolivia back and forth.
April 6, 2005... With the final vote by Bolivia's legislature on a controversial energy bill that could increase royalties paid to the government by energy producers from 18% to 50% just weeks away, energy companies are lobbying furiously to try to limit the...

Gazprom edges closer to LNG trade.
April 6, 2005... Persistent market rumors that Russia's Gazprom has obtained LNG cargoes and is seeking to place them in North American markets look to be premature--but perhaps not by much. Gazprom itself confirmed this week that it is still hoping to...

IPE gas futures.(Insight)
April 6, 2005... IPE GAS FUTURES Contract Apr. 4 Week's Apr. 4 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu May. '05 30.05 30.30/29.85 5.64 Jun. 29.75 29.90/29.50 5.59 Jul. 28.85 29.20/28.50 5.42...

NYMEX gas futures.(Insight)
April 6, 2005... NYMEX GAS FUTURES Contract Apr. 4 Week's Mar. 28 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu May. '05 7.594 7.90/7.10 7.122 Jun. 7.706 8.01/7.21 7.232 Jul. 7.806 ...

Market insight: bullish wave hits US.(Insight)
April 6, 2005... Market players are expecting US gas prices to test new highs this week, as they continue to be infused with a bullishness smelling of oil that permeates the entire energy complex (WGI Mar.9,p6). Technicals are firmly on the side of market...

North American Gas and comparative fuel prices.(Insight)
April 6, 2005... NORTH AMERICAN GAS AND COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES ($/MMBtu) Apr. Bid- Pipeline Point/City Gate Week * Mar.'05 Feb.'05 Mar.'04 Henry Hub $7.33 $6.30 $6.29 ...

Could nuclear power really come back into vogue?(Current)
April 6, 2005... Almost given up for dead, nuclear power is enjoying a revival, spurred by concern about climate change, rising gas prices and supply security. While particularly strong growth is expected in the fast-developing economies of Asia, potential also...

EnCana finds unconventional way to beat gas decline.(Horizon)
April 6, 2005... Calgary-based independent EnCana, formed a mere three years ago from the merger of Alberta Energy and PanCanadian, has become North America's largest gas producer by responding more effectively than many of its peers to the radical...

Gazprom closer to new pipes.
April 13, 2005... Russia's Gazprom evidently isn't letting corporate takeover squabbles at home and efforts to expand in new directions abroad interfere with efforts to upgrade and expand its core gas export pipeline network to Western Europe (p2). Progress has...

US LNG imports still at record highs.
April 13, 2005... US imports of LNG continued on a consistent upward trend during the first quarter of 2005, even though European customers exerted an unusually strong pull on spot volumes in the Atlantic Basin. Imports into US terminals totaled 157 billion...

Shell, Exxon, Statoil deal with Gazprom.
April 13, 2005... Even as it tries to sort out its core export pipeline system, Russia's Gazprom is also starting to put flesh on some of the bare-bones strategic joint venture accords it initialed with various Western oil majors over the last year involving...

Two African projects hint at GTL surge.
April 13, 2005... Evidence that the global natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) business is not only a reality but could grow at an even faster pace than previously projected continues to mount around the world from Qatar to Nigeria and, more recently, Algeria. The...

Indian end-users start to pay more for gas.
April 13, 2005... Consumers of gas in India's western state of Gujarat are coming around to paying more than $4 per million Btu for delivered gas, after balking for decades at any price above $3/MMBtu. The turnaround by industry and even price-controlled...

GdF still sole French LNG importer.
April 13, 2005... No company other than Gaz de France (GdF) has yet used third-party access to import LNG into France, the country's chief gas regulator tells WGI. An Egyptian LNG cargo sold by Malaysian state Petronas to Total was unloaded in mid-March at...

Spanish LNG trading moves.
April 13, 2005... After making history as the first power generator to go upstream to start its own LNG export plant, Spain's Union Fenosa is now taking its first steps into LNG trading (WGI Dec.8,p1). Italy's Eni. Fenosa's equal partner in the Union Fenosa Gas...

Market insight: Asia soaks up LNG.(Insight)
April 13, 2005... Asian markets look set to exercise a strong pull on any spare LNG available from the Mideast around to Australia and possibly even from the Atlantic Basin over the next few months, amid apparently strong demand and a further expected decline in...

Russian power restructuring edges forward, despite delays.(CURRENT)
April 13, 2005... Russian electricity sector reform is inching forward, even though a date has still not been set for the privatization of the new bevy of companies emerging from the unbundling of state-controlled UES (WGI Jan.19,p7). The electricity reform...

LNG shipbuilders, owners turn attention to the hangover.(Horizon)
April 13, 2005... "Ordering frenzy" or "shopping spree" were favored expressions used to characterize the LNG tanker market over most of the past two years, as tanker owners worldwide scrambled to get a foothold in a business poised for breakneck growth. That...

Turkmen political overtones.
April 20, 2005... Heavy political overtones attach to a compromise under which Russia's Gazprom is to resume gas imports from Turkmenistan after a lingering dispute--without the price increase the Turkmens wanted, but on an all-cash basis more attractive to...

Trinidad: quiet host to gas exporters forum.
April 20, 2005... The tiny Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago is preparing to host the fifth ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries' Forum (GECF) Apr. 25-27 in the capital Port of Spain. An official announcement from the country's Energy...

Nigeria's twice-as-big OK LNG project.
April 20, 2005... With Royal Dutch/Shell on board, Nigeria's Olokola LNG (OK LNG) project looks much bigger and perhaps more realistic--if also on a slightly slower track--than it did when first announced by ChevronTexaco, BG Group and state Nigerian National...

India maneuvering for better terms.
April 20, 2005... Widely reported claims by Indian Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar that India intends to be importing 20 million tons per year of LNG from Qatar by 2015--equivalent to 75.6 million cubic meters per day of gas or more than 75% of current Indian...

Israel set to buy gas from Egypt.
April 20, 2005... Officials in Israel's National Infrastructures Ministry (MNI) are "very optimistic" that a government-to-government framework agreement with Egypt facilitating the import of 1.7 billion cubic meters per year (164 million cubic feet per day) of...

Syria advances on gas production, trade.
April 20, 2005... Syria is proceeding through state companies and outside contractors to develop its domestic gas reserves and pipeline gas trade, despite some bumps resulting from the imposition of US sanctions last May. Oil Minister Ibrahim Haddad said in...

Libyan gas at home.
April 20, 2005... Libya's Attahady gas field finally came on stream this month, bringing gas some three years behind schedule to domestic heavy industry and power stations (WGI Dec. 15,p2). First gas was processed Apr. 7 at one of the 270 million cubic foot per...

German regulator.
April 20, 2005... Germany's industry ministry said last week that all is now in place for independent regulation of the country's energy market. The Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on Apr. 15 voted through a new law effectively implementing the...

US fuel switching, now and forever.
April 20, 2005... Fuel switching capacity in the US has shrunk to the point that it no longer provides an effective escape valve for gas demand when prices soar, suggesting that prices will remain in the $4-$7 per million Btu range for years to come. But...

Market insight: Belgian, UK LNG slots.(Insight)
April 20, 2005... Belgian energy regulator Creg attracted a dozen or so firms to a meeting last week on whether unloading slots at Zeebrugge should be increased from 60 per year, all allocated to Belgian incumbent Distrigas, in order to foster a secondary...

Euro exchanges branch out into carbon, gas--you name it.(Current)
April 20, 2005... Europe's new energy exchanges are branching out as a means to steal a lead in a competitive and increasingly crowded marketplace (WGI Jan. 12,p4). Some exchanges are looking to expand by offering a wider range of contracts, with carbon emission...

Trinidad aiming to "share" profitable Algerian experiences.(Horizon)
April 20, 2005... Trinidad and Tobago was once seen as the friendliest place around for private LNG developers. Now it is not only to host the fifth annual ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) on Apr. 25-27 (p1), it is also...

Chevron's Asia thrust.
April 27, 2005... ChevronTexaco's $18.4 billion acquisition of US independent Unocal was driven in large part by a desire to boost the California major's presence in Asia's fast-growing gas business (WGI Mar.23,p8) Chevron Vice Chairman Peter Robertson told...

Gas exporters forum draws no crowd.
April 27, 2005... The fifth annual ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) opened Tuesday with much fanfare in Port of Spain, as host Trinidad and Tobago assumed the one-year rotating presidency of the organization. But fanfare may be all...

Excelerate looks to tackle tough states.
April 27, 2005... With its first cargo delivered and its Energy Bridge technology demonstrated, Excelerate Energy is moving ahead with plans for two more US LNG offloading buoys, one offshore New England and the other off northern California. President and...

India's finely balanced gas reform outlook.
April 27, 2005... Events last week perfectly exemplified the contentious, stop-start nature of the market reform and development process that is shaping India's nascent gas sector. On the one hand, Royal Dutch/Shell imported a first LNG cargo into its 2.5...

Peru LNG looks for sales to Mexico, Chile.
April 27, 2005... Where is Camisea gas headed? Since going live in August, the jungle-based gas project's input into Peru's own energy matrix has been undeniable, with gas production up to 148 million cubic feet per day. Now Peru LNG, the Hunt Oil entity in...

US pipelines eye limited LNG role.
April 27, 2005... The Kinder Morgan companies, which together comprise one of the largest US midstream commodity pipeline and transportation entities, are looking to get into the LNG business. This follows word that pipeline giant El Paso is ready to expand its...

New Dutch LNG duo.
April 27, 2005... Links between continental European pipeline gas and LNG markets could be strengthened if a joint study announced this week by Dutch Gasunie's autonomous and soon-to-be-state-owned gas grid and Netherlands-based worldwide oil terminals operator...

Angola LNG closer.
April 27, 2005... ChevronTexaco's heightened attention to gas isn't limited to the Asia-Pacific (p1). Last week, Chevron and partners moved plans for an LNG export project fed by associated gas from deepwater oil finds off Angola closer to reality with the...

Global gas trade up--slightly--in 2004.
April 27, 2005... It may appear that everyone is getting into the LNG trade these days, but if so, it has yet to show up in the statistics. The rate of increase in world gas trade--including movements inside the former Soviet Union--slowed to 6.4% in 2004,...

Market insight: spot LNG slowdown.(Insight)
April 27, 2005... The recently frenetic short-term LNG market appears to have entered a quieter phase, as buyers and sellers alike adjust to slowing European demand and gas prices on both sides of the Atlantic propelled to unusual heights by buoyant oil markets....

IPE gas futures.(Insight)
April 27, 2005... IPE GAS FUTURES Contract Apr. 25 Week's Apr. 25 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu May '05 30.61 31.20/30.10 5.85 Jun. 30.46 30.65/30.00 5.82 Jul. 29.10 29.69/28.70 5.56...

NYMEX gas futures.(Insight)
April 27, 2005... NYMEX GAS FUTURES Contract Apr. 25 Week's Apr. 18 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu May'05 7.153 7.37/6.88 6.950 Jun. 7.216 7.43/6.98 7.049 Jul. 7.306 ...

Comparison of LNG exporter netbacks at receiving terminals worlwide.(Insight)
April 27, 2005... COMPARISON OF LNG EXPORTER NETBACKS AT RECEIVING TERMINALS WORLDWIDE (Netbacks in $/MMBtu) US/Lake Charles US/Elba Island Exporters Apr.22 Mar.24 Apr.22 Mar.24 Qatar 4.46 4.51 5.04 5.29 Oman ...

Unlike Germany, UK fails to get wind power act together.(CURRENT)
April 27, 2005... As it seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in line with Kyoto Treaty obligations, the European Union has been keen to embrace green energy, setting an ambitious target of 12% for electricity produced from renewable sources by 2010 and...

Italy's proliferating LNG projects caught in logjam.(Horizon)
April 27, 2005... Developers are now proposing to build at least nine LNG import terminals in Italy, with a combined capacity of almost 70 billion cubic meters (50 million tons) per year. That's one-third as much again as last summer and only slightly less than...