World Gas Intelligence articles from December 2005

World Gas Intelligence archives from December 2005

Iran's mixed LNG mood.
December 7, 2005... Despite being without an oil minister for close to four months, Iran is making steady progress in its bid to produce and market the country's first LNG by the end of the decade in cooperation with two different sets of foreign partners, one led...

Japan's low LNG costs spur spot buys.
December 7, 2005... Even as soaring gas prices in the US and UK are reinforcing the Atlantic Basin pull on already tight global supplies of spot LNG, relatively low gas import prices are turning Japan into an active spot buyer, ensuring that the Asian pull will be...

New twist on Kovykta future.
December 7, 2005... Russia's Gazprom and TNK-BP have completed the first stage of an evaluation of prospective Chinese gas demand and will announce the results this month, as part of a joint study on development of Russian gas reserves in East Siberia and the...

UK berates LNG shortfall ... and BP?
December 7, 2005... In a pre-budget report Monday that will be remembered mainly for a sharp increase in the tax-take on UK upstream oil and gas production, Chancellor Gordon Brown, the UK finance minister, made one unusually pointed remark: "There have also been...

Gazprom clears way for Turkish release.
December 7, 2005... Turkey's state gas import monopoly Botas expects to announce the winners of its gas release program next week. This is news in itself, since this is Botas' sixth such tender during 2005, all previous ones having been cancelled (WGI Oct. 19,p5)....

Australian LNG sales.
December 7, 2005... The prospect of multiple Australia-based LNG projects is moving closer to reality with a number of preliminary sales either concluded or close. Traditional Japanese and South Korean, rather than Chinese or Indian entrants, dominate the buy-side...

Turkmen show and tell.
December 7, 2005... After much hemming and hawing, Turkmenistan agreed last week to present the results of an international audit of national gas reserves to Russia's Gazprom, removing the main stumbling block in negotiations for long-term supply of Turkmen gas to...

Shunning Henry Hub.
December 7, 2005... Mexico is seeking LNG pricing options that will get it as far away from linkage to the Henry Hub US benchmark as possible. On the west coast, that means preference would be given to any seller offering an S-curve in the pricing formula to...

Exxon, Alaska pipeline accord near.
December 7, 2005... Industry sources tell WGI that Exxon Mobil is nearing an agreement with Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski on terms for the Alaska portion of the North Slope natural gas pipeline to Canada and the US lower 48 states. Exxon is the largest gas...

Market insight: US finely balanced.(Insight)
December 7, 2005... Last month, a late surge in the November US gas futures contract stuck many large end-users with high baseload costs for the ensuing month, just as the underlying market was turning bearish (WGI Nov.2,p6). After a month of drifting North...

Electricite de France has disappointing market debut.(CURRENT)
December 7, 2005... Great things were expected from the part-privatization of Electricite de France (EdF). Instead, its Nov. 21 Paris stock exchange debut fizzled. Amid complaints that the initial public offering (IPO) price for the shares was too high, the share...

Deregulation clouds US emergency energy planning.(Horizon)
December 7, 2005... Deregulation and other liberalization of US gas and electricity markets took place in an era of low gas prices and surplus supply, when it was widely assumed that natural gas would be available in that country in whatever volume required at any...

Shell's expansive Sakhalin-2.
December 14, 2005... Despite massive cost overruns, the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project on Russia's Pacific Shelf is undoubtedly aiming to expand, almost certainly with Russian state Gazprom on board and quite possibly using gas from the Exxon...

Cold sparks heated battle for spot LNG.
December 14, 2005... With a cold winter in prospect on both sides of the Atlantic, the US and Europe are in a heated battle for LNG supplies. When push comes to shove, the US still seems destined to lose. But with several new Atlantic Basin and Mideast liquefaction...

Politics flow in Russia-Germany pipe.
December 14, 2005... If doubts lingered about the political motivation underlying Russia's planned North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP), to run directly from Russia to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, Gazprom has quashed them. The gas behemoth and German partners BASF...

Bonn throws book at E.On Ruhrgas.
December 14, 2005... E.On is having a bumpy month on the regulatory track. Germany's National Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) Tuesday formally declared that E.On Ruhrgas's long-term contracts to supply gas to German distributors breach both European Union and...

Qalhat ships to Spain.
December 14, 2005... Oman's Qalhat LNG exported its first cargo Monday, a full month ahead of schedule, providing relief to a tight Spanish market. This, in turn, could help ease strains in the UK and even the US, where competition with Spain for supplies has been...

Conoco gets gassier.
December 14, 2005... ConocoPhillips' planned $35.6 billion acquisition of large US independent Burlington Resources to become the largest US gas producer hardly means the company is abandoning the international gas business, Conoco Chairman and Chief Executive Jim...

German VNG in LNG.
December 14, 2005... Verbundnetz Gas (VNG), the eastern German supplier 48% owned by northwest German electric utility EWE, last week signed a memorandum of understanding with Gate Terminal to continue negotiations on a long-term LNG import capacity booking in...

Romanian top-up.
December 14, 2005... Germany's Wintershall says that WIEE, the East European gas wholesaler it owns equally with Russia's Gazprom, has signed a 2006-12 supply agreement with Romanian distributor Distrigaz Sud for a total of just over 9 billion cubic meters of gas,...

Tokyo Gas' latest Australia play.
December 14, 2005... This week saw Tokyo Gas help jumpstart yet another Australian LNG project, its fourth such effort. The Japanese utility is the first buyer to come on board Woodside's Pluto venture, signing a heads of agreement (HOA) for 1.5 million- 1.75...

Market insight: Asia's supply shortfall.(Insight)
December 14, 2005... Soaring US and Northwest European gas prices look to be trumping whatever pull both established and start-up markets in Asia are able to exert on spot supply (p1). Despite strong gas demand and a stated willingness to pay US benchmark Henry...

North American generators may squeak by this winter.(Current)
December 14, 2005... After a year that included anomalies affecting coal, hydropower and gas supply, the North American Electric Reliability Council (Nerc) still expects to have adequate electricity capacity to meet winter demand--barring unforeseen fuel supply or...

Delays beset bullish plans for LNG terminals in China.(Horizon)
December 14, 2005... Recent supply deals secured by relatively deep-pocketed Japanese buyers raise serious questions as to whether Chinese terminal developers will be able to secure LNG at prices they find acceptable in time to meet ambitious start-up dates (p5). A...

China's Tangguh 'Wobble'.
December 21, 2005... Questions surrounding Chinese commitment to the Tangguh LNG project are being raised after Indonesia's Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) would be reducing the amount of natural gas it would...

E.On's low-gas UK strategy.
December 21, 2005... German utility giant E.On says it will extend the operating life of its oil-fired generation capacity near London because of high UK gas prices, and has also announced plans for a "clean" coal-fired power plant in Britain. It shows that...

US utility merger.
December 21, 2005... FPL Group, more familiarly known as Florida Power and Light, announced Monday its agreement to buy Constellation Energy Group for $11.07 billion in stock, marking another major step in the trend toward US utility consolidation. With some...

Trinidad's evolving LNG plans.
December 21, 2005... After months of uncertainty, Atlantic LNG's Train 4 has finally come on line--and not a moment too soon to help ease tensions in the fight global LNG market. But it also marks another milestone for Trinidad and Tobago, a country of 1.2 million...

Iran-India pipe makes headway.
December 21, 2005... Oil ministers from India and Pakistan last week agreed to press ahead with talks on a $7 billion gas pipeline from Iran. Ministers from all three countries plan to meet early February in Tehran to finalize a framework agreement for the...

South America's latest pipe dream.
December 21, 2005... The latest episode in the long-running quest for South American energy independence and integration sees Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil considering the construction of a pipeline no less than 8,000 kilometers in length to connect Venezuela's...

Exxon cuts drilling time by 35%.
December 21, 2005... Engineers and scientists at Exxon Mobil have developed a revised drilling scheme that accelerates penetration rates by as much as 400% and cuts overall drilling time by up to 35%, allowing the company to reduce costs and bring on production...

Angel lined up for NWS-5.
December 21, 2005... Australia's North West Shelf LNG partners last week approved the development of the Angel gas and condensate field, which will serve as the source of supply for their new Train 5 due to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2008. The...

Second Medgaz deal.
December 21, 2005... Algerian state Sonatrach has signed a contract to supply Spain's Cepsa with 1.6 billion cubic meters per year (155 MMcf/d) of gas over 20 years, that is due to commence with the planned 2009 start-up of the subsea Medgaz pipe directly linking...

Grain LNG to expand further.
December 21, 2005... National Grid, owner-operator of the Isle of Grain LNG import terminal near London, said Tuesday it is to offer a further five million metric tons/yr of capacity, adding that the new capacity could be available by winter 2010-11. It has...

IPE gas futures.(Insight)
December 21, 2005... IPE GAS FUTURES Contract Dec. 19 Week's Dec. 19 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu Jan. '06 85.28 105.00/85.20 15.02 Feb. 83.65 102.25/83.50 14.74 Mar. 73.98 89.25/73.60 ...

Nymex gas futures.(Insight)
December 21, 2005... NYMEX GAS FUTURES Contract Dec. 19 Week's Dec. 12 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu Jan. '06 14.043 15.78/13.28 14.841 Feb. 14.104 15.78/13.38 14.913 Mar. 14.014...

Market insight: Europe eyes Trinidad.(Insight)
December 21, 2005... Western Europe's near-term supply-demand balance is looking more relaxed than it has for some time, with even prices for January deliveries a little softer. Yet this is hardly surprising, ahead of an extended industrial shutdown during...

European border price estimates.(Insight)
December 21, 2005... EUROPEAN BORDER PRICE ESTIMATES Prices Effective Dec. '05 (US$ per Million Btu) Algeria Algeria by...

Resurgent nuclear power finds new supporter in UK.(CURRENT)
December 21, 2005... Nuclear power's comeback as a clean energy source for the 21st century continues to gather momentum, driven by the powerful combination of greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and now chronically strong oil and gas prices (WGI Jul. 13,p8)....

LNG shipping market tightens, shipyard capacity loosens.(Horizon)
December 21, 2005... Things are looking up at last for LNG shipowners. Traded volumes are rising. At least one large shipowner expects no vessel to be left idle this winter. There's been a spate of time charters, not just for transportation but even for floating...