World Gas Intelligence articles from August 2002

World Gas Intelligence archives from August 2002

Gazprom's processing puzzle.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... Russia's Gazprom is struggling to make effective use of gas processing assets that were stripped under its former management and are now being returned to the fold. The problem starts with the fact that the assets turn out to be debt-ridden and...

Gas grabs prominent Saudi energy role.(Saudi Arabian Oil Co.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... In a clear sign of the importance that gas policy has assumed inside Saudi Arabia over the last year, state Saudi Aramco reported a 2.4% increase in gas reserves in its 2001 annual report, as well as a 10% jump in gas production. The...

Asian LNG plans proposed--regardless.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... Despite the large surplus of LNG in Asia and looming uncertainty over the credibility of potential new buyers such as China and India, projects continue to proliferate, both on the supply and the demand side. China has announced plans to build...

US gas production still on the decline.
August 7, 2002... Second-quarter US gas production as reported in corporate earnings statements support the widely held view of a looming deliverability problem in the US gas market, although the data are not likely to spark a near-term price rally, as they did...

Camisea progresses in troubled Peru.
August 7, 2002... Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo is facing more than his share of problems, starting with the fact that his public approval rating has tumbled to 14%, from 59% when his presidency began just over a year ago. The southern city of Arequipa...

Dynegy calms storage customers in UK.(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... Dynegy Storage appears to have convinced worried UK customers that their inventory gas is safe after all. A financial remedy presented by Dynegy on Aug. 1 would give customers at its Rough offshore facility priority over the US firm's...

Italy cuts pipe tariffs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... Italy's energy regulatory authority has approved the transportation tariffs of national grid operator Snam Rete Gas for the year starting Oct. 1, 2002. The average tariff will fall by 7%. Excluded from the tariff is Sicily's annual $120...

Dutch tariff proposal.(Gastransport Services proposal)(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... More flexibility is offered to gas shippers in a new tariff system proposal by Dutch grid operator Gastransport Services (GTS) to take effect Oct. 1. This Gasunie pipeline subsidiary is due to become fully state-owned by April 2003 (WGI...

Powerless Singapore.(power blackout)(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... Malaysian state Petronas is getting ready to receive the first pipeline gas from Indonesia's West Natuna field, just as Singapore--West Natuna's first customer--experienced its first disruption in gas supply, leading to a blackout for a few...

US LNG terminal maneuvers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... Last week saw the disappearance of two clouds of uncertainty hanging over operations of US LNG receiving terminals. First, financially troubled Williams agreed to sell off its Cove Point, Maryland, facility for $217 million to Virginia-based...

Market insight: storage stirs US worries. (Insight).(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... With nearly a full traditionally hot, muggy month left in the North American summer, a lot of air conditioning load remains to be satisfied. But with US gas storage facilities filling fast and the industrial market still weak, gas prices have...

US electricity market proposals seen as federal power grab. (Current).(Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)(Brief Article)
August 7, 2002... The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week proposed mandatory rules for the US electricity market with the aim of standardizing that ailing market nationwide and preventing a repeat of California's 2000-01 energy crunch (WGI...

French government reshuffle to spur market reforms. (Horizon).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 7, 2002... France's new center-right government has begun to pick up the pace of reform in gas and power markets, clearing a logjam that had put the country on a collision course with its European Union partners. The June election left the French Right in...

China's Australia choice.(liquefied natural gas trade)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 2002... When Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri was waltzing with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing last March, BP officials thought that they had all but snagged an estimated $13 billion contract to export LNG to coastal China (WGI...

Nigeria eyeing gas for future revenue.(Brief Article)
August 14, 2002... Building on its success as one of the world's leading oil exporters, Nigeria is looking increasingly at development of its enormous gas potential as a means to boost and diversify, export revenue streams, as well as to promote local development...

Weak demand keeps Brazil flaring.(Brief Article)
August 14, 2002... Brazilian officials still maintain that their lagging demand for gas-fired electricity will pick up in about five years, when several gas-fueled power plants are set to come on line and gas is projected to compete with hydroelectricity on an...

Poor balance sheets sap power trading.(power trading volumes fall in second quarter)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 2002... Second-quarter financial reports from US energy merchants and integrated utilities confirmed what anecdotal evidence suggested: Power trading volumes were generally down from the first quarter of 2002, even if higher than in the year-ago...

Opposition builds to E.On's Ruhrgas bid.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 2002... German power giant E.On's $10 billion attempt to takeover gas distributor Ruhrgas has triggered a blizzard of writs, plus a renewed appeal for Brussels to intervene. However, the European Commission almost immediately rejected the appeal,...

Russian Itera added to Israeli grouping.(Brief Article)
August 14, 2002... In a last ditch effort to revive its bid to build and operate Israel's 450 kilometer gas grid, the Israeli consortium composed of Paz Oil, Africa Israel Investments, and Bateman Engineering this weekend proposed adding a new foreign...

Longer Tunisia output.(Bechtel Group Inc. receives contract to install gas compression package at BG Group PLC's Miskar gas field)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 2002... UK-based BG Group has awarded a $70 million contract for installation of a gas compression package at its Miskar gas field offshore Tunisia, which should extend the field's production plateau for an extra five years to 2009. The contract will...

EdF, GdF sale nears.(Electricite de France, Gaz de France)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 2002... The French government last week chose four banks to advise on its part-privatization of the state energy sector. Credit Lyonnais unit Clinvest and Morgan Stanley were retained to advise on the sale of Electricite de France (EdF), and Credit...

Botas cuts forecast.(gas demand forecast for state pipeline operator Botas)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 2002... Bowing slightly to economic reality, Turkish state pipeline operator and importer Botas recently revised downward by 14% its gas demand forecast for 2003. The new estimate of 27.3 billion cubic meters roughly matches the 27.9 Bcm of supply...

Market insight--Japan summer gas blast. (Insight).(gas industry in Japan helped by weather)(Statistical Data Included)
August 14, 2002... Weather has been helping the Japanese gas industry of late (WGI Jun.26,p7). Despite a continuing economic slump and the relocation of plants to China by cost-conscious manufacturers, gas consumption is on the rise--thanks to an unusually hot...

European power exchanges benefit from OTC credit crisis. (Current).(over-the-counter markets)(Brief Article)
August 14, 2002... Despite an overall drop in wholesale power trading in Europe in the wake of the Enron collapse and troubles afflicting other US energy merchants, Europe's leading regulated power exchanges have been going from strength to strength. New contract...

US industrial gas demand creeping back up--slowly. (Horizon).(Brief Article)
August 14, 2002... The US industrial base, mired in a deep economic flank stretching back two years, is showing some signs of life. But the recovery will be long and arduous before the US gas market sees a return to previous robust demand levels. And in the...

Bangladeshi Indian exports.(gas to India)
August 21, 2002... Bangladesh is likely to approve next month a proposal to allow gas exports to India. Government sources say that a report by a governmental committee has pointed out that the country stands to benefit from selling gas to India--an issue that...

Lattice plans 2004 UK LNG terminal.(United Kingdom's liquefied natural gas terminal)(Lattice Group)
August 21, 2002... Britain's first LNG import terminal in 20 years could be operational by end-2004 on the Isle of Grain, some 60 kilometers east of London, if plans formally presented last week by Lattice Group to the local authority are approved. A decision by...

Polish privatization is Gazprom opportunity.(PGNiG)
August 21, 2002... Plans revealed last week by the Polish government to restructure and privatize the country's gas monopoly PGNiG seem to dovetail nicely with a new export strategy that Russia's Gazprom has under consideration. However, the scheme proposed...

Deltana blocks open to preferred firms.(Venezuela's Plataforma Deltana natural gas project)
August 21, 2002... After many delays, the government of Venezuela came out with a shortlist of the preferred foreign oil companies to develop five offshore blocks in the Plataforma Deltana non-associated natural gas project. The $3.8 billion venture has caught...

Mexico power reform submitted to Senate.
August 21, 2002... Capping months of speculation over the shape of Mexican energy reform, President Vicente Fox formally submitted an electric power package to the Mexican Senate last week that would create a generating market of many private companies to compete...

Oman completes pipe.(gas pipeline)(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... Compared to Israel (see story,p5), Oman's efforts to set up a gas grid have proceeded altogether more smoothly. Last week, India's Dodsal completed construction on the 700 kilometer pipeline connecting central gas fields to the southern coastal...

Trinidad starts train 2.(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... Trinidad's second liquefaction train has started up two months ahead of schedule, a third is due for completion early next year, and talks are advanced on a possible much bigger fourth train. Repsol YPF is among three core shareholders in...

Bolivia looks to GTL.(converting natural gas to liquids)(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... French Total Fina Elf has joined GTL Bolivia in a feasibility study that could lead to development of a 10,000 barrel per day project to develop a process that would convert natural gas to liquids (GTLs) such as diesel, in what would become the...

Involved in Russian, Caspian gas?(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... If so, the Energy Intelligence Group is pleased to announce the release of The Almanac of Russian and Caspian Petroleum for 2002. This annual reference guide is indispensable for those involved in one of the most dynamic regions in the...

Israeli grid locked.(Brief Article)
August 21, 2002... Israel's gas grid plans have gone back to square one. The tender committee yesterday rejected the new bid submitted by Paz Oil, which had proposed bringing in Gazprom-linked gas trader Itera alongside longstanding partners Africa Israel...

Market insight--end-user prices sneak up. (Insight).(gas, oil and electricity prices)(Industry Overview)
August 21, 2002... Increases since April in end-user gas prices in most European countries--and particularly in those indexed heavily to fuel oil price quotes--fly in the face of a widespread trend toward weak spot prices in wholesale gas markets (WGI Jul.31,p6)....

US coal producers, consumers locked in contract standoff. (Current).(Industry Overview)
August 21, 2002... Market fundamentals that virtually mirror those for North American gas have US coal producers and electric utilities locked in a standoff over the long-term supply contracts on which the industry is heavily reliant. Neither side seems ready to...

Canadian firms look to Scotian Shelf, Arctic for growth. (Horizon).(Nova Scotia)
August 21, 2002... Canadian producers are looking to the deepwater Atlantic and the Arctic north as they try to replace dwindling reserves in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, meet rising demand from the US, and supply an increasing number of gas-intensive...

WGI supplement: European end-user prices (in Eurocents/kWh). (Energy Intelligence Group).(gas, oil and electricity prices)(Illustration)(Industry Overview)
August 21, 2002... WGI SUPPLEMENT: European End-User Prices (In Eurocents/kWh) Gas Prices: 100,000 cm/yr 1 Million cm/yr Typical High Low Typical High Low Belgium Jul. '02 2.17...

Petronet LNG's RasGas deal.(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... After a yearlong negotiation, Petronet LNG has finally managed to convince Qatar's RasGas to amend an LNG supply contract and introduce a price band for pricing LNG (WGI May8,p1). RasGas has agreed to introduce a price band on a 5 million ton...

Deltana firms picked; Exxon not among them.(Venezuela)(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... The mystery of private participation in Venezuela's Deltana Platform non-associated gas project has finally been revealed, and not without some surprises. Five big international oil companies--including US ChevronTexaco--are the government's...

Shell Namibia exit opens opportunities.(Royal Dutch-Shell)(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... After almost a decade, Royal Dutch/Shell is shutting down gas operations in Namibia following disappointing drilling results on the offshore Kudu field. The supermajor, which has been in the country since 1993, has spent $140 million on...

Russian, Norwegian gas exports growing.(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
August 28, 2002... Russian gas exports outside the former Soviet Union increased by 3.5% in the first half of 2002 to 65.8 billion cubic meters from the same period in 200 I. According to preliminary data from Gazprom trading subsidiary Gazexport, natural gas...

BP takes capacity on Intra-Texas pipe.(Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P.)(BP Gas and Power)(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... In what may the largest-ever US natural gas transportation agreement between a producer and a pipeline, supermajor BP will begin shipping up to 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day through the Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) Texas intrastate...

Exxon up for Sakhalin.(Exxon Mobil Corp. proposed natural gas pipeline)(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... Exxon Mobil declared early this week that its proposed natural gas pipeline from Russia's Sakhalin region to Japan is both technically and commercially feasible. The line will run more than 1,000 miles from the eastern coast of Sakhalin...

Japan cutting LPG use.(liquefied petroleum gas)(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
August 28, 2002... Japanese city gas companies are favoring LNG instead of LPG, and are reducing imports of LPG accordingly, say Japanese industry officials. Nippon Petroleum Gas plans to sell 72,000 barrels per day of LPG in fiscal 2003, unchanged from the...

Fenosa offers gas unit.(Union Fenosa S.A.)(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... Spain's Union Fenosa is looking to sell off half of its gas unit to ease debts, chief executive Honorato Lopez Isla recently revealed in an interview with the regional La Voz de Galicia. Isla said Fenosa was talking to BP, Shell, Gaz de France,...

Azeri imports delayed.(Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corp.)(State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic)(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... Already struggling to offload its surplus gas imports, Turkey will not be disheartened by the news that the BP-led consortium developing Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field for export by pipeline to Turkey has pushed back the date of first...

Arab pipeline boosted.(Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. consortium)(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... A consortium led by state Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (Egas) has won the build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) contract for a proposed 370 kilometer gas pipeline connecting Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba to power stations near the capital...

Bolivia decision delay.(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... Landlocked Bolivia may not be able to make a final decision until the end of the year on whether to export its natural gas through Peru or Chile. Newly elected president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada attributed the delay to the lack of a...

Market insight: Bunde business doubling. (Insight).(German/Dutch border)
August 28, 2002... Spot gas liquidity on the north German/Dutch border has improved markedly this summer. The gain came at the expense of continental Europe's biggest trading hub, Belgium's Zeebrugge, which saw UK gas imports dry up in July and remain...

European firms watching for opportunities in US power. (Current).(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... Contrasting sharply with a US electricity sector that's still reeling from recent scandals with many merchants facing an uncertain financial future, Europe's big power companies continue to prosper--putting them in a strong position to fulfill...

Johannesburg Earth Summit promises power to the people. (Horizon).(Brief Article)
August 28, 2002... The United Nation's World Summit on Sustainable Development started in Johannesburg amid some controversy because the issue of global warming does not figure prominently on the agenda. For Western environmental activists who focus heavily on...