World Gas Intelligence articles from August 2007

World Gas Intelligence archives from August 2007

Pluto's $50/bbl price floor.
August 1, 2007... Woodside raised eyebrows in the investment community last week with the A$11.2 billion (US$9.5 billion) price tag--double the original estimate--it gave in announcing the anticipated final investment decision on its Pluto LNG project offshore...

Distributor China Gas eyes LNG imports.
August 1, 2007... As China's gas demand rises on the back of soaring economic growth, domestic gas distributors are developing ambitious plans to help fill the supply gap, alongside the three more LNG price-sensitive state-owned majors that have handled all...

Turkey accepts Greece, Italy transit role.
August 1, 2007... Lingering doubts about Turkey's willingness to act as a transit country for gas owned by others should be laid to rest by the trilateral agreement signed by Italy, Greece and Turkey late last week backing the transport of Caspian and Mideast...

Taiwan seeks still more short-term LNG.
August 1, 2007... Taiwan's CPC over the next few years will continue to rely heavily on short-to medium-term--three- to six-year--LNG supply deals and on the spot market, a company official tells WGI. CPC is already scrambling to meet immediate gas supply needs,...

LNG arbritrage buoys BG, Suez profits.(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Underscoring the benefits to be gained from arbitrage LNG trading, BG reported that it sold 71 standard cargoes of LNG in the second quarter, up from 49 in the same period in 2006 and 51 in the first quarter of this year--despite a downturn in...

Argentina starts to tackle gas shortages.
August 1, 2007... After much delay, the government of Argentina has finally come up with a plan to try to permanently reverse severe natural gas shortages that threaten to stall the country's economic growth. But restructuring Argentina's strained energy network...

Partial Algerian fix.
August 1, 2007... It's been a mixed week for Algerian-Spanish energy ties. The positive news is that Spain's Industry Ministry last week agreed to let Algerian state Sonatrach market 2 billion cubic meters per year (193 million cubic feet per day) of gas in...

Conoco's UK plans.
August 1, 2007... The LNG import terminal that ConocoPhillips hopes to build at Teesside, in the UK, will initially have 5 million tons (6.9 billion cubic meters) per year of send-out capacity, expandable to 15 million tons/yr (20.7 Bcm/yr), with at least two...

ICE UK gas futures.(INSIGHT)
August 1, 2007... ICE UK GAS FUTURES Contract Jul. 30 Week's Jul. 30 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu Sep. '07 30.35 30.50/26.20 6.14 Oct. 34.00 34.00/31.15 6.88 Nov. 42.16 42.25/40.20 ...

Nymex US gas futures.(INSIGHT)
August 1, 2007... NYMEX US GAS FUTURES Contract Jul. 30 Week's Jul. 23 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu Sep. '07 6.499 6.58/5.86 6.118 Oct. 6.714 6.79/6.04 6.289 Nov. 7.659 ...

Market Insight: US price bounce.(INSIGHT)
August 1, 2007... US month-ahead prices for August got a last-minute boost in late July, setting baseload gas prices in the major eastern North American markets higher than many had anticipated. August gas futures jumped 16 cents last Friday, as a very oversold...

Non-nuclear fire deals blow to German nuclear sector.(CURRENT)
August 1, 2007... Efforts by the German power sector to reverse the country's current planned phase-out of nuclear power have been dealt an apparently severe blow by the controversy surrounding a recent fire at one of its facilities and the subsequent outage of...

LNG project lists starting to look short for contractors.(HORIZON)
August 1, 2007... After the boom of the past decade, much of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) side of the world's LNG industry has arrived at a momentary hiatus. This is not the case all around. Japan's Chiyodda is extremely busy in Qatar, for...

Yemen LNG delay.
August 8, 2007... Prolonged discussions on securing gas supply have pushed back start-up of the 6.7 million ton per year (900 million cubic foot per day) Yemen LNG (YLNG) project from December 2008 at least into early 2009, WGI is told. In order to meet targets...

US LNG imports unexpectedly surge.
August 8, 2007... US LNG imports have rebounded to the 3.5 billion cubic foot (73,500 ton) per day range in the past week after dropping as low as 1.9 Bcf/d in late July, when the Henry Hub benchmark dropped to its recent low of $5.86 per million Btu (WGI...

American West Coast LNG down, not out.
August 8, 2007... The drive to supply LNG to the North American West Coast appears to be sagging. Witness the recent defeat of BHP Billiton's Cabrillo Port proposal in California, ongoing uncertainty over supply to Sempra's Costa Azul terminal in Mexico, and...

Price fight threatens India's gas growth.
August 8, 2007... An intensifying dispute over pricing of gas from Reliance Industries' big Krishna Godvari Basin gas finds threatens India's turnaround from a gas-deficit nation on two fronts: by potentially putting Reliance's work itself on hold, and by...

Sovcomflot: a coming force in LNG shipping.
August 8, 2007... Russian shipper Sovcomflot, fired with ambition after its recent merger with fellow state company Novoship, is positioning itself to be the world's leading operator of ice class LNG tankers as Russia moves into LNG over the next decade. ...

Russian, EU gas troubles proliferate.
August 8, 2007... For Russia, the last 10 days have provided further evidence of the wisdom of securing gas supplies for its European consumers by building new pipelines that bypass troublesome transit countries and aging infrastructure. For Europeans, the same...

E.On goes norse.
August 8, 2007... European utilities are redoubling efforts to secure equity gas, and none more so than Germany's E.On, which may be doing this as a counterbalance to the prospect--yet to be finalized--of tighter cooperation with rival BASF in Gazprom's...

ICE UK gas futures.
August 8, 2007... ICE UK GAS FUTURES Contract Month Aug. 6 p/therm Week's High/Low Aug. 6 $/MMBtu Sep. '07 24.59 30.50/24.35 4.99 Oct. 28 47 34.00/28.30 5.78 Nov. ...

Nymex US gas futures.
August 8, 2007... NYMEX US GAS FUTURES Contract Month Aug. 6 $/MMBtu Week's High/Low Jul. 30 $/MMBtu Sep. '07 6.208 6.68/5.91 6.499 Oct. 6.378 6.90/6.12 6.714 Nov. ...

Market insight: Asian spot premium.(INSIGHT)(Industry overview)
August 8, 2007... Asian buyers are poised for a surge in spot prices this autumn due to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) nuclear outages. The Japanese utility has been "moving very quietly" in order to keep the market "calm," reports one Singapore-based...

US sees first new nuclear applications in three decades.(CURRENT)
August 8, 2007... With a little help from ses amis, the US has seen the first application--albeit partial--for a new nuclear power plant filed in roughly three decades. French nuclear technology supplier Areva and the Unistar subsidiary of Baltimore,...

Global satellite-based report names and blames flarers.(HORIZON)
August 8, 2007... The world's first authoritative study using satellite imaging to assess the extent of gas flaring, both globally and in specific key producing countries, shows that flaring worldwide was in the 150 billion-170 billion cubic meter per year (14.5...

Turkmen pipe puzzle.
August 15, 2007... The US has made some progress in efforts to break Russia's stranglehold on the flow of gas from Turkmenistan by pushing for a new pipeline that would run beneath the Caspian Sea to Baku, Azerbaijan, and then join the Nabucco system running...

Petronas shifting Egyptian LNG to Asia.
August 15, 2007... Malaysia is not short of domestic gas supplies, according to a Petronas official from subsidiary Malaysia LNG (MLNG), refuting speculation that a gas shortage forced state Petronas to annul its LNG supply deal with UK gas marketer Centrica in...

Suez sells Trinidad LNG, Goldman buys.
August 15, 2007... The LNG market is changing fast, as evidenced by a recent series of tenders French Suez has been holding for nine cargoes from its Trinidad supply, to be delivered once or so a month over the next year, WGI understands. Suez, itself a...

Venezuela drops pipe dreams, tries LNG.
August 15, 2007... With his idea of building an ambitious gas pipeline across South America rapidly slipping off the screen, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is pushing a new solution to the region's gas woes: LNG. Last week, Chavez toured South America in a...

India revives interest in Turkmenistan pipe.
August 15, 2007... India is shifting its attention back to the US-supported Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline amid signs that a rival project with Iran is floundering due to disagreement over the gas price (WGI Jun.20,p3). Perhaps...

Gazprom eyes E.On power assets in UK.
August 15, 2007... Russia's Gazprom, which has been angling for some time to expand into downstream European gas and gas-consuming operations, may yet secure stakes in the UK power generating business of Germany's E.On, as part of an asset swap between the two...

German BEB for sale?
August 15, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil are planning the sale of their German gas network and storage business BEB "for billions of euros," according to a report on manager-magazin.de, which says the two majors have identified the asset as non-core...

ICE UK Gas Futures.(INSIGHT)
August 15, 2007... ICE UK GAS FUTURES Contract Aug. 13 Week's Aug. 13 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu Sep. '07 25.03 26.00/23.75 5.04 Oct. 28.31 29.60/27.50 5.70 Nov. 38.74 39.35/38.10 7.80 ...

Nymex US Gas Futures.(INSIGHT)
August 15, 2007... NYMEX US GAS FUTURES Contract Aug. 13 Week's Aug. 6 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu Sep. '07 6.794 7.13/5.91 6.208 Oct. 7.018 7.34/6.12 6.378 Nov. 7.849 8.11/7.05...

Market insight: Euro gas-indexing.(INSIGHT)
August 15, 2007... Leading global fertilizer manufacturer Yara has announced major changes in how it pays for feed gas in mainland Europe that indicate movement away from oilprice linkage. Such movement may well be more widespread. The Norway-based concern has...

Gazprom gobbling large bits of Russian electricity sector.(CURRENT)
August 15, 2007... State Gazprom is making strides toward its goal of becoming a major player in the Russian electricity sector, having recently agreed on a swap arrangement that gives it control of two of the new national generating and wholesale marketing...

Winter LNG outlook tight--but how tight, as supply grows?(HORIZON)
August 15, 2007... As the global LNG market comes out of summer hibernation with the US still mopping up the bulk of available spot supply, a tighter market seems to be on the winter horizon. Resurgent East Asian demand has already had a noticeable effect on spot...

Indonesia inks Sulawesi.
August 22, 2007... Indonesia's ailing reputation for reliable LNG exports may be improved by two recently agreed projects. Yet analysts warn that both may instead end up reflecting a more inward-looking gas strategy. During Monday's visit by Japanese Prime...

Japan's Inpex aims downstream.
August 22, 2007... Japan's largest upstream firm, Inpex, plans to move downstream by developing its own receiving terminal in northwest Japan. Market deregulation and a heightened sense of energy security have shaken up traditional roles in Japan's LNG...

Dubai weighs up LNG sites.
August 22, 2007... Dubai is considering whether to build its proposed LNG entrepot facility outside the emirate, maybe even in another Mideast Gulf state, to ease investor concerns over security and project costs, WGI has learned. It is one of several LNG storage...

Brazil mulls pipe deregulation bill.
August 22, 2007... Amid growing domestic gas demand, Brazilian legislators are mulling a bill to deregulate gas pipeline transport in an effort to boost investment from foreign oil companies deterred by state oil firm Petrobras's monopoly. A draft gas bill...

Russians ponder flaring strategy.
August 22, 2007... Russia's oil producers looking to improve associated gas use and reduce flaring are mostly teaming up with Gazprom's petrochemical subsidiary, Sibur, many in response to a carrot-and-stick approach from the Kremlin. The stick is the...

E.On admits UK power plants story.
August 22, 2007... German energy giant E.On has confirmed reports early last week that its six UK gas-fired power plant assets are being eyed by Gazprom (WGI Aug.15,p4). Asked how Yuzhno-Russkoye talks begun in mid-2006 are progressing, E.On Chief Executive...

Libyan LNG, pipe ideas.
August 22, 2007... Libyan National Oil Corp. (NOC) is hoping for two grassroots LNG export plants, plus a pipeline to Tunisia, if sufficient new reserves are proven. A pipe project to Egypt is less advanced, while no plans exist to expand an existing pipe to...

Snohvit big day.
August 22, 2007... Norway's Statoil said Tuesday that first gas has been piped from the Snohvit gas field into its onshore LNG processing facility at Melkoya, near Hammerfest, in the far north of Norway. The liquefaction plant took just over five years to...

Nord Stream re-route.
August 22, 2007... The Gazprom-led consortium developing the Nord Stream subsea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany has decided to reroute the pipeline to run north--rather than south--of the Danish island of Bornholm, the company said this week, citing...

ICE UK GAS FUTURES.(INSIGHT)
August 22, 2007... ICE UK GAS FUTURES Contract Month Aug. 20 p/therm Week'sHigh/Low Aug. 20 $/MMBtu Sep. '07 24.54 27.00/24.40 4.88 Oct. 27.19 29.20/27.00 5.40 Nov. ...

NYMEX US GAS FUTURES.(INSIGHT)
August 22, 2007... NYMEX US GAS FUTURES Contract Month Aug. 20 $/MMBtu Week's High/Low Aug. 13 $/MMBtu Sep. '07 6.040 7.19/6.00 6.794 Oct. 6.205 7.35/6.18 7.018 Nov. ...

Market insight: Asian LNG pull.(INSIGHT)
August 22, 2007... US LNG imports are continuing to dip, after record levels in June and July, though high natural gas prices are supporting US netbacks and allowing the country to draw more than 2.5 billion cubic feet per day, up from 1.6 Bcf/d in August 2006....

Prospects for synfuels from coal not that bright in US.(CURRENT)
August 22, 2007... The US National Mining Association claims that producing liquid transportation fuel from coal becomes economic when oil prices are about $35 per barrel. The Rand Corp. calculates the oil price needed to justify commercial-scale coal-to-liquids...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
August 22, 2007... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for five trading days, spanning Aug. 14-20. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Aug. 20 for day-ahead delivery Aug. 21. European power prices are from exchanges on...

US Gulf LNG terminals proceed at glacial pace.(HORIZON)
August 22, 2007... A map of proposed LNG receiving terminals along the US Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico less than five years ago would have included a series of a couple dozen dots originating from south of the Mexican border, up the coasts of Texas and...

Russia's Central Asia choice.
August 29, 2007... Failure by Russia to get China to accept European-level gas pricing has left Moscow determined to protect its core European market from Central Asian incursions that enjoy US and EU backing. This looks to be the key dynamic leading Moscow this...

Woodside revs up more LNG projects.
August 29, 2007... Australia's Woodside Petroleum is in talks with Asian buyers to sell a "significant" volume of LNG from either its Browse or Sunrise projects, Chief Executive Don Voelte revealed last week. The firm has shifted "from marketing into sales mode"...

Clouds over Trinidad, LNG island paradise.
August 29, 2007... Not so long ago, Trinidad and Tobago was seen as an LNG industry pacesetter, as not only its location but also the flexible ownership and sales structure of its four Atlantic LNG (ALNG) trains and its low initial cost base left it uniquely well...

Might BP let Gazprom into Trinidad?
August 29, 2007... Last week, Russian newspaper Vedomosti printed an eyebrow-raising report that BP is in negotiations involving contribution of a stake in its profitable Trinidad LNG business to a joint venture with Russian state-controlled Gazprom. Although...

Ignoring constraints, Iran wheels, deals.
August 29, 2007... Amid competition from Russia and allies of the US to develop competing pipeline routes for Caspian gas to Europe, acting Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari signed deals with Turkish Energy Minister Helmy Guler during his visit to Tehran...

Suez, GDF initiatives.
August 29, 2007... Suez has written directly to French President Nicolas Sarkozy urging him to end the 18-month impasse over its planned takeover of state-run Gaz de France (GDF), the Financial Times (FT) reported Tuesday (WGI Mar.1 '06,p2). The report said Suez...

US-Allied India drops Iran pipe plan.
August 29, 2007... India has ceased pushing for the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project since it signed a controversial civilian nuclear cooperation pact with the US last month that could help solve the country's energy deficit. New Delhi...

Market insight: Euro end-use prices rise.
August 29, 2007... European industrial end-user gas prices were higher in July than in April in most of the seven key European economies sampled by Energy Advice for WGI, while electricity prices stayed range-bound except for hikes in Germany and Italy. The trend...

Europe's CO2 Emission prices take yet another tumble.(CURRENT)
August 29, 2007... Prices for carbon dioxide (CO2) permits in Europe's Emissions Trading System (ETS) have taken a tumble in recent weeks, hitting a four-month low last week of [euro] 18.63 ($25.29) per metric ton for the December 2008 contract. That represents a...

Conoco's Mulva: "the world has a natural gas problem".(HORIZON)
August 29, 2007... ConocoPhillips Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Mulva is worried about natural gas. "I believe the world has a natural gas problem," Mulva volunteered in a recent interview with Energy Intelligence. "The world has a great deal of natural...

WGI supplement: European end-user prices (eurocents/kWh).(Energy Intelligence)
August 29, 2007... WGI SUPPLEMENT: European End-User Prices (eurocents/kWh) Gas Prices: 100,000 cm/yr 1 Million cm/yr Typical High Low Typical High Belgium Jul. '07...