World Gas Intelligence articles from December 2008

World Gas Intelligence archives from December 2008

NLNG force majeure.
December 3, 2008... Neither Nigeria LNG (NLNG) nor Royal Dutch Shell have publicly indicated a likely duration for the force majeure declared by NLNG when an unscheduled "temporary" shutdown at a Shell-run upstream gas plant took out 40% of the feedgas flow...

First gas trading on France's Powernext.
December 3, 2008... Paris-based electricity trading mart Powernext launched France's first gas exchange Nov. 26 to considerable applause. Some 892,350 megawatt hours of gas (84.7 million cubic meters or almost 3 billion cubic feet) was traded in 39...

Spain and Japan: LNG comparisons.
December 3, 2008... Spain has long been known by LNG insiders as "the Japan of Europe" for its isolation from Europe's pipeline gas markets and for being one of the world's biggest LNG importers. It may see these dubious distinctions weakened somewhat with the...

Woodside, Chevron vie for Australia gas.
December 3, 2008... Australia's Woodside and US major Chevron are planning rival LNG "hub" schemes off northwestern Australia--even though neither has yet found sufficient gas to fill the intended capacities of their projects after expansions. Woodside looked to...

Oil Search's role in Abu Dhabi-PNG deal.
December 3, 2008... The recent $1.1 billion deal between the state investment arm of Abu Dhabi and the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to fund the poor Asia-Pacific country's share of a high-profile LNG project was rooted in relationships forged earlier this...

Russia tightens gas ties in Latin America.
December 3, 2008... Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited four Latin American nations in six days last week, signing a series of accords with his counterparts in Peru, Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba in areas ranging from trade to military cooperation--with energy,...

Caspian pipe slippage.
December 3, 2008... The much discussed shortage of politically acceptable supply to fill the numerous pipelines proposed as conduits for bringing Caspian and other Central Asian gas to Europe is finally starting to register on project sizes and schedules (WGI...

GDF Suez UK debut.
December 3, 2008... GDF Suez landed its first-ever cargo into the UK's Isle of Grain Dec. 1 aboard the Maran Gas Coronis. The cargo is believed to have come from Egypt, although this wasn't confirmed. Maran Gas Coronis delivered an Egyptian cargo into Zeebrugge...

Market insight: US demand fears.(INSIGHT)
December 3, 2008... Although North American futures prices raced higher in the days leading up to the expiry of the US December gas contract on Nymex, most physical gas traders said the troubled state of the economy--and its impact on gas demand--was the primary...

Obama's take on next-generation US nuclear reactors.(CURRENT)
December 3, 2008... The US government's Energy Information Administration--and a substantial majority of the US public, according to some polls--is of the view that the US will need more nuclear power in its electricity mix in the decades ahead, particularly if a...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
December 3, 2008... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for five trading days, spanning Nov. 25-Dec. 1. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Dec. 1 for day-ahead delivery Dec. 2. European power prices are from exchanges on...

Obama's attitude toward gas supportive but cautious.(HORIZON)
December 3, 2008... US President-elect Barack Obama's attitude toward natural gas might best be described as supportive but cautious, with gas priorities likely to meld closely with the incoming administration's environmental goals. On the one hand, Obama has...

Gazprom's bumper budget.
December 10, 2008... Russia's Gazprom officially confirmed last week that it is sticking with record-high spending plans for 2009 and won't abandon priority projects because of the global economic crunch--even though it may have to rely heavily on the Kremlin,...

German shakeup yields results.
December 10, 2008... German energy group RWE said Friday that it has given a formal undertaking to the European Commission that it will sell its 4,000 kilometer German gas transmission network to an independent operator, as originally outlined in May (WGI...

Nord Stream on track, says CFO.
December 10, 2008... After more than two years of informal talks with more than 20 banks, the Gazprom-led Nord Stream pipeline project expects to launch a formal "market sounding" of potential financiers early in 2009, Nord Stream Chief Financial Officer Paul...

Petronet's LNG balancing act.
December 10, 2008... India's Petronet LNG has negotiated an extension of the short-term contract with Qatar's RasGas currently being used to fuel the operating portion of the 2,150 megawatt Dabhol power plant in western India--although the contract may be derailed...

Drill cuts won't avert US glut.
December 10, 2008... Lower gas prices and limited access to capital are prompting many independent US producers to lay down rigs and slash capital spending plans for the coming year. The cuts will moderate or even reverse production gains in time--but not quickly...

Utilities go upstream.
December 10, 2008... Europe's major gas and power utilities are looking to raise their upstream exposure, with significant moves announced recently by Italy's Edison, which is jointly controlled by French power giant EDF and Italian utility A2A, as well as by...

Argentina's issues.
December 10, 2008... Argentina's cash-starved government is turning over every possible stone to cut its natural gas import bill and trim subsidies that have kept tariffs artificially low for seven years. But its efforts may not find an answer in the near future,...

Market insight: no deals in Asia.(INSIGHT)
December 10, 2008... Hope on the part of sellers that Asian spot LNG demand would revive once winter took hold and LNG prices came off a bit must now be fading. With gas and power demand both succumbing to global economic paralysis, major players simply aren't in...

EDF's global nuclear drive beset by rising costs.(CURRENT)
December 10, 2008... An upward ratchet in projected costs for power giant EDF's initial next-generation European Pressurized Reactor (EPR)--to [euro]4 billion ($5.1 billion) from [euro]3.3 billion in 2005-could have wide repercussions given the French nuclear...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
December 10, 2008... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Weekfor five trading days, spanning Dec. 2-8. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Dec. 8 for day-ahead delivery Dec. 9. European power prices are from exchanges on Dec. 8...

Questioning the benefits of LNG for supply security.(HORIZON)
December 10, 2008... LNG is frequently extolled, particularly within the heavily piped-gas-dependent European Union, as a means of enhancing energy security. But how effective is it really likely to be in keeping consumers supplied at reasonable prices in times of...

Henry Hub going global?
December 17, 2008... Could the US Henry Hub price benchmark emerge from the current bout of gas and oil market mayhem as a globally recognized determinant of long- as well as short-term natural gas prices, on a par with--or even surpassing--oil? While such an...

EU to start funding cross-border pipes.
December 17, 2008... The European Union is to make up to [euro]4 billion ($5.4 billion) of grants available to help fund gas and power interconnectors over the next two years under an amendment proposed last week to its budget. Although detailed rules on how the...

New law to aid Brazil's gas efforts.
December 17, 2008... Brazil took an important step toward securing long-term gas supply last week, when both houses of Congress finally approved a gas bill that had been deadlocked in the Senate for eight years. But constraints remain, including slow progress on...

Tender leaves Algeria stretched for gas.
December 17, 2008... Concern over Algeria's ability to carry through on its gas export plans has been fanned by the relatively poor response to the country's bid round last weekend, when just four of 16 gas exploration areas originally on offer were awarded, to...

Qatar tempts majors to plumb its depths.
December 17, 2008... With future North Field projects on hold, probably until 2013, and regional pressure to provide more gas intensifying, Qatar is betting that international oil companies (IOC) will line up this month to bid on the first of four deep pre-Khuff...

Israel looks for LNG through 'aggregator'.
December 17, 2008... With Egyptian pipeline gas supply to Israel under intensified legal as well as political attack inside Egypt, Israel looks to be turning up the pace in previously lagging efforts to obtain LNG both as insurance against a loss of Egyptian flows...

New Eni LNG style.
December 17, 2008... Belgian Distrigas--majority-owned by Italy's Eni since this summer--has confirmed that a cargo aboard its ship Methania was partially unloaded last week into Portugal's LNG terminal at Sines, over seven weeks after loading. The long saga...

Australian CO2 bend.
December 17, 2008... Australia's LNG producers are likely to get concessions under the government's revised plan for a carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) outlined this week in a white paper. Initially, Australia has committed to a minimal 5% reduction in...

Market insight: Euro price pressures.(INSIGHT)
December 17, 2008... With oil now selling for roughly $100 per barrel less than last July's peak of over $145/bbl, even indexation to oil prices over a period as lengthy as nine months won't be adequate to prop up European gas prices much longer. Instead of...

Russia lands first big nuclear reactor, fuel sale in India.(CURRENT)
December 17, 2008... Renewed tension with Pakistan has probably further diminished already tenuous prospects for an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to help feed India's strained power sector. But New Delhi is progressing apace in efforts to get nuclear fuel and...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.
December 17, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Weekfor five trading days, spanning Dec. 9-15. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Dec. 15 for day-ahead delivery Dec. 16. European power prices...

Canadian natural gas prospects bad--and deteriorating.(HORIZON)
December 17, 2008... Canadian gas producers don't have much to celebrate this holiday season, as neither the market nor the political climate has been kind to them over the past year. The outlook for a prosperous and happy 2009 is, if anything, worse. Canadian...

Troika outshines GECF.
December 31, 2008... The energy ministers and other officials from 13 countries who gathered in Moscow Dec. 23 appear to have accomplished little that hadn't been proclaimed as done at least once before in the history of the so far largely ineffectual Gas Exporting...

Indonesia seeking to avoid spot LNG buy.
December 31, 2008... Indonesia is trying to renegotiate supply agreements with LNG buyers as gas production declines and supply is diverted toward the country's growing domestic market--not make up shortfalls in contracted supply with spot LNG cargoes purchased...

Recession hits limping LNG shippers.
December 31, 2008... After years of restricted supply, the LNG shipping industry was supposed to thrive in 2009, on the back of a surge in output from new liquefaction plants (WGI May21,p8). However, demand destruction has reversed the trend before it could take...

Gazprom grapples with leaner prospects.
December 31, 2008... For years, questions have abounded about Russian state Gazprom's ability to meet an anticipated surge in European gas demand. For now, the global financial crisis and attendant potential for a global LNG glut have turned the tables nearly...

EDF riles, E.On soothes trustbusters.
December 31, 2008... Antitrust officials at the European Commission (EC) have turned their sights on French state-run EDF, less than a month after winding up a bruising fight with its next-largest European rival, Germany's E.On. EDF said last week that it had...

Italy, Spain price cuts.
December 31, 2008... Italian and Spanish regulated household gas tariffs are to be cut Jan. 1, in line with the falling wholesale market price trend (WGI Dec.17,p6). UK suppliers are also under heavy pressure to cut rates. Gas bills in Italy will fall by 1%,...

Medgaz pipe finished.
December 31, 2008... The Medgaz consortium announced last week that it had finished pipe-laying operations between Algeria and Spain, with Italy's Saipem finalizing the 210 kilometer link at Algeria's Beni Saf. The line could be an important new source of gas...

Azeri gas worries.
December 31, 2008... Azerbaijan is proposing to increase its intake of associated gas from BP's offshore Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) field, where production has been curtailed since detection of a gas leak on Sep. 17 shut down one of five platforms. But this is...

Market insight: LNG inaction.(INSIGHT)
December 31, 2008... Spot LNG markets entered 2008 "squeaky tight," with little supply coming to the US (WGI Jan.23,p6). They are closing out the year amply to oversupplied, but with the US still sidelined. The market is becalmed globally, with no spot movement in...

EU adopts full carbon capture and storage framework.(CURRENT)
December 31, 2008... A directive approved this month by both the European Union summit of heads of government and the European Parliament provides the complete legal framework for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) that European developers have been...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
December 31, 2008... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Weekfor four trading days, spanning Dec. 23-29. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Dec. 29 for day-ahead delivery Dec. 30. European power prices are from exchanges on Dec....

GDF Suez's Jean-Luc Colonna tours the global LNG horizon.(HORIZON)(Interview)
December 31, 2008... Jean-Luc Colonna, senior vice president of LNG at GDF Suez, recently accepted the LNG Award 2008 on behalf of his newly merged company at CWC's World LNG Summit in Barcelona. The winner of this award, which is jointly sponsored by WGI, is...