World Gas Intelligence articles from January 2008

World Gas Intelligence archives from January 2008

Sakhalin-2 LNG delay-2.
January 3, 2008... Plans for Sakhalin-2 in the Russian Far East to become Asia's nearest and newest source of LNG starting this year may need updating--again. If so, Russian state Gazprom and other project owners could end up seeking spot or diversion cargoes to...

Topsy turvy US LNG import record year.
January 3, 2008... The US set a record for LNG imports in 2007 as volumes climbed almost 40% from 2006 levels to average 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (16.1 million tons), up from 1.6 Bcf/d in 2006, according to figures from the US Department of Energy and...

French gas market facing eventful 2008.
January 3, 2008... The French gas industry is set to undergo massive change in 2008, starting with the expected merger this summer of Gaz de France (GDF) and Suez, coinciding with a likely clash between Paris and the European Commission over French government...

China, Russia progress on Turkmen pipes.
January 3, 2008... Russia and China have each redoubled efforts to lock in long-term Turkmen and other Central Asian gas supply, with first Moscow announcing that it had firmed up a landmark deal to build a new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, followed a week...

Thailand searches the globe for gas.
January 3, 2008... With gas demand on the rise in Thailand and global supply perceived to be scarce, state PTT is on a far-flung drive to line up new supply, reaching from neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia all the way west to Egypt and east to Australia. Thai...

Australian outage.
January 3, 2008... Although Australia's prospects for becoming a massive LNG exporter in the next decade remain bright, nagging problems are again afflicting near-term output after a relatively smooth performance in 2007. This Wednesday, Australia's Woodside said...

Ukraine, Russia deal.
January 3, 2008... Russia and Ukraine averted a fresh New Year's crisis that potentially could have interrupted gas flows to Western Europe when the new government in Kiev presented a revised budget for 2008 that upholds terms already agreed with Moscow. A...

Czech, Hungary pact.
January 3, 2008... Czech generator CEZ and Hungary's Mol announced plans to create a [euro]1.5 billion ($2.15 billion) 50-50 joint venture to build two 800 megawatt gas-fired combined-cycle power plants (CCGT)--one each at Mol refineries at Bratislava in Slovakia...

Market insight: speculative US bulls.(INSIGHT)
January 3, 2008... US gas speculators won the battle with notably bearish fundamental drivers last month, keeping the US January gas futures contract above $7 per million Btu through expiry, making for a busy bid week, and leading to a higher-trending February...

Interlinked North European markets try power sharing.(CURRENT)
January 3, 2008... North European power markets are becoming increasingly interlinked as new cross-border interconnector capacity helps break down national barriers, and market coupling--under which relatively low-priced markets export power to higherpriced...

BG's Martin Houston tours the global LNG horizon.(HORIZON)
January 3, 2008... Martin Houston, executive vice president at BG in charge of global LNG, is confident that BG will retain the strong position in the US market that has provided a springboard for its emergence as the preeminent global LNG trader--despite the...

Caspian, Turkey tensions.
January 9, 2008... Turkmenistan is getting tough with its southern neighbor Iran. Last week's cutoff in gas flows was clearly designed as pressure for higher prices, diplomatic sources in the Turkmen capital of Ashkhabad say. One knock-on effect has been Iran's...

Gremlins plague liquefaction plants.
January 9, 2008... Liquefaction plants worldwide are facing a flurry of glitches that collectively are depriving the market of a surge in LNG supply anticipated for this winter--and aggravating global market tightness that has pushed prices in Asia as high as $18...

Big Indonesia decisions set for 2008.
January 9, 2008... Indonesia is set for a busy 2008. While it is targeting a lackluster 4.4% hike from last year in gas production to 6.56 billion cubic feet (1.169 million barrels of oil equivalent) per day, big decisions are looming on several issues that could...

Spending up, Bolivia again eyes LNG.
January 9, 2008... Bolivia has received pledges for substantial investment in its gas industry over the coming year, countering earlier warnings that so-called nationalization of the hydrocarbons industry would discourage private-sector spending. New investments...

New pipes thwart UK LNG imports.
January 9, 2008... LNG's share of UK gas supply collapsed to 1.5% last year, from 3.5% in 2006, as cargo volumes into the country fell by 59%. UK gas prices through summer remained lower than in 2006 due to higher imports of Norwegian gas through new pipe links,...

Boston terminal wait.
January 9, 2008... While Excelerate finished construction on its Northeast Gateway LNG import buoy offshore Massachusetts before Christmas, final Coast Guard approval is still pending, so imports can't begin--even if supply were available, which it probably...

Easier German trading.
January 9, 2008... Germany's networks regulator this Tuesday declared at least a partial victory in its campaign to reduce the country's gas market areas to fewer than 10 in order to simplify gas trading. "With the decision of further gas network operators to...

India still buying costly spot LNG.
January 9, 2008... India's newfound appetite for spot LNG seems not to have been deterred by high winter prices, although China has withdrawn from the field and even longtime player South Korea seems to be wavering. This month, a Nigeria cargo priced at close to...

Market insight: Asian LNG rare, costly.(INSIGHT)
January 9, 2008... After swelling to 655,000 tons in October and 578,000 tons in November at prices uniformly below $12 per million Btu (see table below), the wave of spot Atlantic Basin LNG hitting Japan has slowed to a trickle, and prices for at least one cargo...

US states take climate change policy into their own hands.(CURRENT)
January 9, 2008... The administration of US President George W. Bush will not buckle under international pressure and adopt mandatory caps on carbon emissions. That was made clear most recently at the December UN climate summit in Bali, Indonesia. But that does...

TransCanada still facing uncertainty in Alaska pipe bid.(HORIZON)
January 9, 2008... Alaska's selection of TransCanada as the sole applicant it will consider to build a huge 4.5 billion cubic foot per day (46.5 billion cubic meter per year) pipeline to the energy-hungry continental US could be just the medicine needed to get...

Sakhalin-1 swap talk.
January 16, 2008... It looks increasingly as if 2008 will be the year of decision on gas from the Exxon Mobil-led Sakhalin-1 project in Russia's Far East--and by implication Exxon's continued role in that project. Russian sources say the Sakhalin-1 production...

Tumultuous Spanish market for LNG.
January 16, 2008... This has been a tricky winter for Spanish gas companies. Importers, lured early this winter into arranging cargo sales into the hot Asian market, have been scrambling for extra LNG since December to meet unexpectedly strong demand for gas-fired...

Turkey at eye of Turkmen-Iran storm.
January 16, 2008... Algerian state Sonatrach Monday delivered a spot LNG cargo to Turkey, a Botas source has confirmed. This should help some in easing the supply gap Turkey is facing in the wake of Turkmenistan's Jan. 1 price-driven halt in gas exports to...

Osaka Gas enters US Freeport LNG.
January 16, 2008... Osaka Gas is the mystery buyer of US independent producer Contango's 10% interest in Freeport LNG, WGI has learned. The Japanese utility paid a modest $68 million for the stake and hasn't disclosed what it plans to do with its ownership...

French companies venture into Qatar.
January 16, 2008... French President Nicolas Sarkozy's tour of Mideast Gulf capitals this week was marked by the signing of a flurry of deals by Gaz de France (GDF) and its takeover target Suez, as well as by EDF, Total and nuclear contractor Areva. These accords...

E.On backs new cross-Alps pipeline.
January 16, 2008... A decision could be taken by the end of this year on the feasibility of what would be the first new cross-Alps gas pipeline between Italy and Germany in over 30 years. Rights of way along the line's 260 kilometer route would need to be...

Polish move on LNG, Lithuania stalls.
January 16, 2008... Polish state PGNiG has jumped ahead of Lithuania and its other Baltic neighbors in laying the groundwork for the first regasification terminal on the Baltic Sea. While this could theoretically help Poland in its long battle to decrease...

Norway beats record.
January 16, 2008... Norway's marketable gas production reached 89 billion cubic meters (8.6 billion cubic feet per day) in 2007, as the Ormen Lange and Snohvit fields began contributing to supply during the fourth quarter, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD)...

Market insight: European price lurch.(INSIGHT)(Industry overview)
January 16, 2008... Long-term contractual prices for pipeline gas and LNG across much of Europe, and particularly in Germany, powered through the $10 per million Btu ([euro]23 per megawatt hour) barrier this month, according to WGI's European Border Price...

UK, US both advancing toward nuclear renaissance.(CURRENT)
January 16, 2008... In a decision watched closely as an indicator of Europe's nuclear future, and perhaps that of the US as well, the UK last Thursday gave the official go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations. In tandem, the government published an...

Prices aside, South Korea, Taiwan want even more LNG.(HORIZON)
January 16, 2008... Despite the specter of LNG prices rising in line with soaring oil markets, Japan isn't the only traditional Asian LNG importer still anxious for additional supply. Both South Korea and Taiwan, too, are hoping to import more this year to meet...

US pipe adjustments.
January 23, 2008... Whether it's the belated arrival of winter, start-up of the first major transcontinental segment of the Rockies Express (Rex) pipeline, the accelerating decline in Canadian production or a combination of the three, the basis differentials...

Qatargas' mega LNG ship shuffle.
January 23, 2008... Qatar is facing a growing glut of LNG shipping capacity, caused by several of its marquee gas projects falling months behind schedule, amid whispers of more severe delays to come. With four giant Q-Flex ships already delivered and four more...

Iran-Pakistan pipe, maybe. India, no.
January 23, 2008... Long years of talks on a potential Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline may conclude within the next couple of months, but the result--at best--is likely to be a smaller line running only to Pakistan, without Indian involvement. Anxious to...

Russia-Ukraine clash back on radars.
January 23, 2008... Little more than a month has passed since Yulia Tymoshenko replaced Kremlin-friendly Viktor Yanukovich as Ukraine's prime minister, and already another showdown over gas supply is brewing. True to her tough election rhetoric, Tymoshenko looks...

Peru LNG faces opposition to exports.
January 23, 2008... A consortium led by Spain's Repsol YPF announced last week the discovery of some 2 trillion cubic feet (57 billion cubic meters) of gas in Peru's Kinteroni field near the big Camisea gas field, evoking a delighted response from the government....

Small steps in Libya.
January 23, 2008... Libya's National Oil Corp. (NOC), its affiliate Sirte Oil Co. and Royal Dutch Shell last week signed a joint operating agreement for the rejuvenation of the Marsa el-Brega LNG plant, building on the first Brega agreement signed in May 2005 (WGI...

Norway's ups, downs.
January 23, 2008... Norway's Kvitebjorn gas and condensate field resumed production last week after an eight-month gap (WGI May2,p5). No such luck yet at the country's Snohvit LNG venture, however. While slated to restart in mid-January after closing in...

European spot prices tumble.
January 23, 2008... Prompt gas prices at both the UK's National Balancing Point (NBP) and at Northwest European hubs have tumbled to well below $10 per million Btu, just weeks after long-term contractual prices across much of Continental Europe jumped above that...

Market insight: soaring spot LNG.(INSIGHT)
January 23, 2008... The pattern is now set for the season: LNG markets are squeaky tight, and little beyond baseload Trinidad supply to Everett, Massachusetts, is going to the US. Even though the Henry Hub benchmark has risen by more than $1 per million Btu over...

Dutch regulator calls for shake-up of power market.(CURRENT)
January 23, 2008... Competition in the Dutch electricity market will remain sparse compared with France and Germany until three major obstacles are overcome: heavy reliance on gas-fired generation, physical and virtual congestion at border points, and a...

LNG projects look to sequestration to curb CO2 emissions.(HORIZON)
January 23, 2008... As gas developers face ever more challenging surroundings--particularly tight and deep gas deposits with high carbon dioxide (CO2) content, often in fragile and protected areas--costly but economically viable technology may be able to reduce...

Japan costly LNG flight.
January 30, 2008... Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) is on track to import a global market- moving 2.5 million tons of spot LNG in the fiscal year ending Mar. 31 to make up for the closure of its huge eight gigawatt Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant--an outage that...

Gazprom deal aside, OMV backs Nabucco.
January 30, 2008... Last week didn't look to be a good one for the Nabucco project to move Caspian gas up to Austria via Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, what with progress on the Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) that is competing for tight Caspian supply...

Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline advances.
January 30, 2008... A planned Caspian gas export route to Europe via Turkey recently took one step forward--but it was not the high-profile Nabucco pipeline backed by Austria's OMV (p1). Instead, last week saw Italy's Edison and Greece's Depa sign a declaration of...

Russia's independent gas exchange grows.
January 30, 2008... Russia is pushing ahead with a pilot project for trading gas on the country's first-ever electronic gas exchange, allowing both Gazprom and so-called "independent" gas producers--including domestic oil companies with associated gas--to trade...

Asian race to build first LNG terminals.
January 30, 2008... LNG has created such a buzz in Asia that almost every energy-consuming country that doesn't already have an import terminal project is eyeing one, most for start-up around 2011-12, when substantial additional capacity is due on stream. Leading...

Caribbean pipe plans.
January 30, 2008... Concerned about the soaring price of oil and the high cost of transporting fuel to tiny islands, the nine members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), with a total population of just 600,000, are now considering importing up...

EU carbon policy.
January 30, 2008... Proposals announced by the European Commission last week for meeting a targeted 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 include legally enforceable targets for the amount of electricity each member state must generate from renewable energy...

Nova Scotia storage.
January 30, 2008... Tiny Calgary-based Landis Energy left more questions unanswered than resolved with a terse announcement late last week that it and partner Fort Chicago Energy Partners are considering building a 1.2 billion cubic foot per day (12.4 billion...

It's crunch time for Baltic LNG.
January 30, 2008... Russia's strategy for a two-stage entry into Atlantic Basin LNG hangs in the balance as the Gazprom board prepares to debate the future of the Baltic LNG project Feb. 7. No decision is expected on a partner at this time. Rather, at stake...

Market insight: off lofty heights.
January 30, 2008... Spot LNG traders remain fixated on Asia, where swollen demand and constrained supply have combined to push spot prices up to $18 per million Btu--and in at least one case late last year, $20/MMBtu, Japanese traders confirm (WGI Jan.9,p6). But...

Foreigners line up allies in battle for Greek power market.(CURRENT)
January 30, 2008... Greece fully liberalized its electricity market last July, opening up the sector to domestic and foreign competition. While some of Europe's major energy companies have since trumpeted plans to enter Greece's lucrative power market, it may be...

Italy sees scant progress on import, storage infrastructure.(HORIZON)
January 30, 2008... The shock of Italy's gas shortage two winters ago led the government of then-incoming Prime Minister Romano Prodi in mid-2006 to enact measures to speed infrastructure projects, particularly storage and diversified import facilities, with the...