World Gas Intelligence articles from July 2002

World Gas Intelligence archives from July 2002

E.On: the next step.(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... Last week's German government approval of E.On's purchase of a majority stake in Ruhrgas clears the way for an eventual 100% takeover of the country's dominant gas supplier by its leading power company--an outcome that Deputy Economy Minister...

US LNG imports plummet--briefly.(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... After peaking at about 800 million cubic feet per day in mid-June, send-out from the Lake Charles, Louisiana, LNG import terminal has plummeted to around 135 MMcf/d (WGI Jun. 12,p1). No cargoes have arrived since Jun. 22, sparking talk that the...

No stopping China's big pipeline project.(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... While skeptics still abound, PetroChina last week lent an air of hard reality to planning for a West-to-East pipeline across China by signing a Joint Venture Framework Agreement in Beijing with foreign heavyweights Exxon Mobil, Gazprom, and...

Egypt set for gas liftoff this year.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 10, 2002... With Egypt launching construction of' the initial phase of its gas export pipeline to Jordan this month, the majors firming up plans for LNG exports, and US Apache chalking up its fifth gas discovery so for this year, Egypt's gas future looks...

Enel to buy gas direct from Gazprom.(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... Italian power giant Enel has signed a memo of understanding to buy 3 billion cubic meters per year (290 million cubic feet per day) of gas from Russia's Gazprom for 20 years, starting in 2005. This marks the first direct purchase of Russian gas...

Israeli grid moves.(BG is negotiating for stake in Israeli gas project with Paz Oil, Africa Israel Investments, Bateman Engineering)(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... July 14 may be the day of reckoning for Israel's long-delayed gas grid. Following the May pull-out of prospective 60% grid owner Belgium's Tractebel over "political and security concerns," remaining consortium members Paz Oil and Africa Israel...

Indonesia LNG four?(Pertamina considers developing fourth liquefied natural gas facility)(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... Indonesian state Pertamina has approached several foreign oil companies about developing what would be the country's fourth LNG complex after Arun, Bontang, and the prospective Tangguh facility. The new complex would be in Central Sulawesi, due...

Events jolt UK prices.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 10, 2002... UK spot prices, depressed by a weeklong stoppage of the Interconnector export pipeline to Belgium, rallied this week on an outage at the largest UK North Sea gas field and signs that export flows will soon resume. The Britannia field,...

Norsk Hydro to boost gas trading.(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... While Statoil has inked two long-term deals to supply equity gas to UK customers over the year since Oslo abolished its centralized gas sales organization (GFU), new contracts have been slow in coming from smaller domestic rival Norsk Hydro...

Market insight: booming Thailand. (Insight).(Statistical Data Included)
July 10, 2002... Thailand is boosting gas production aggressively on the back of rebounding demand for electricity and the gas to make it. Independent analysts forecast annual gas demand growth of around 7% for the next five years, while top Thai gas...

Reform gathers pace in Russian electricity sector. (Current).(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... Reform continues to gather pace within Russia's power sector, despite delays in passage of some of the key legislation that would underpin the process over the next decade. The Parliament in Moscow has pushed back until autumn action on a...

The domestic side of Mexico's two-pronged gas policy. (Horizon).(Brief Article)
July 10, 2002... Mexico's need for gas-fired electricity is so great that it is working on two fronts to assure gas supplies: domestic production and imports, first by pipeline from the US and, later, as LNG. For companies eyeing this politically complex...

Korean front in Sakhalin war.(South Korea will privatize portions of Korea Electric Power Corp., Korea Gas Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... Seoul is finally putting segments of Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) up for sale--a political prerequisite for the eventual flotation of a stake in state Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas). But the process is proving hesitant enough that project...

Oslo ends gas sales dispute with EU.(Norway, European Union)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 17, 2002... Oslo has reached a compromise with the European Commission, putting an end to a long-standing dispute over the allegedly anti-competitive activities of Norway's former Gas Sales Committee (GFU) and the legality of GFU-negotiated long-term gas...

Petronet set to get LNG price ceiling.(in contract with RasGas)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 17, 2002... India's Petronet LNG and Qatar's RasGas are expected to conclude an accord later this month introducing a price ceiling and floor into their existing sales and purchase contract for at least 5 million tons per year of LNG destined for India,...

Energy liberalization, Italian style.(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... Potential new entrants to Italy's energy markets should find it easier to make inroads against dominant players ENI in gas and Enel in power thanks to new energy legislation that the Italian government hopes to send to Parliament by the end of...

Caracas pushes big PDV role at Deltana.(Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... The Venezuelan government is determined to turn experienced state oil producer and marketer Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) into an equally adept gas operator. Having already set aside an unexpectedly large 60% stake in the Mariscal...

Oman's Dolphin sale.(Oman Oil Co. will supply gas to Dolphin Energy)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... Oman's plans to supply gas to the United Arab Emirates advanced this week, when state-controlled Oman Oil Co. signed a preliminary deal to sell gas to the UAE's Dolphin Energy--backers of the ambitious project to pipe some 2 billion cubic feet...

Missing EU targets.(for electricity production from renewable energy sources)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... The European Union has admitted that it is likely to miss its ambitious target of doubling electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2010, thus raising the prospect of a reversal in plans to phase out nuclear power (WGI May....

E.On Ruhrgas delay.(takeover delayed)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... German electricity leader E.On's proposed takeover of Ruhrgas has hit a legal snag that could result in months of delay, although it seems unlikely to scupper the deal. In response to a complaint lodged by German energy trading companies...

Turkey teeters.(ailing economy)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... Two months of murmurs about the deteriorating health of Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, its damaging effect on Turkey's wobbly economy, and the need to call early elections--possibly in November--came to a head last week. Seven...

BG out of Israel.(BG Group)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... UK-based BG Group this week bowed out of talks to join a consortium charged with building Israel's gas grid, further rocking Israeli plans to become a gas consumer (WGI Jul. 10,p4). BG, a potential supplier of gas to Israel, had wanted more...

Market insight: swapping strategies. (Insight).(liquefied natural gas)(Statistical Data Included)
July 17, 2002... Over the last couple of years, trans-Atlantic arbitrage trading in LNG has been transformed from a rarity into a relatively common practice. Key to this has been a pioneering three-way swap between Distrigas in Belgium and Tractebel in the...

US banks may fill part--but not all--of power trading void. (Current).(United States)(Brief Article)
July 17, 2002... US commercial and investment banks could prove to be saviors of sorts for the electricity marketplace, which has rapidly shrunk as energy merchants scale back their trading activities in an effort to reassure rattled investors (WGI Jun. 12,p7)....

Gazprom gives a bit, takes a bit in deals with old guard. (Horizon).(Gazprom Russian Joint Stock Co.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 17, 2002... Russia's Gazprom looks to be reverting to its former cozy relationship with Itera and Stroitransgas, two private companies that flourished under former Chief Executive Rem Vyakhirev. In a deal that could prove mutually advantageous to Gazprom's...

EU tough with Russia, Algeria.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... While the European Union last week agreed to a relatively lenient compromise with Norway over the allegedly anti-competitive activities of its former Gas Sales Committee (GFU), it appears to be taking a harder line in its ongoing bid to...

BG disputes El Paso's Elba Island tariff.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... The LNG has yet to be shipped, but a dispute is already raging over regasification tariffs at the Elba Island, Georgia, terminal operated by El Paso's Southern LNG subsidiary. The UK-based BG Group has a 20-year contract to sell LNG from...

Russian Almanac out.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... The 2002 version of Energy Intelligence Group's popular Almanac of Russian and Caspian Petroleum is out. The new edition of this indispensable annual reference guide to one of the most dynamic regions in the industry updates more than 300 pages...

BP out ahead of plan in Vietnam.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... BP is pushing ahead so quickly with an ambitious integrated gas project in Vietnam that it expects to complete construction work ahead of schedule, allowing gas to start flowing in just three months time. The UK supermajor is leading...

UK, Italy seek more flexible LNG rules.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... The UK government is calling for changes to last year's still-pending draft European Union Energy Liberalization Directive. London says that the changes are needed to get investment in LNG import terminals (WGI Mar. 22'01,p5). The draft...

Users pick hydro over gas in Brazil.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... Metal producers would seem to be ideal candidates to help Brazil increase its gas-fired electricity generation capacity and reduce its 90% dependence on hydroelectric power. They consume prodigious quantities of energy and constitute a growing...

New lineup in race to supply Ireland.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... A new leader has emerged in the race to supply gas to the growing Irish market: Aberdeen, Scotland-based independent Ramco has unveiled plans for a gas development off Ireland's South Coast--just as delays were cropping up in the West Coast...

Shell's Sakhalin buy.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... Determined to push ahead with the LNG portion of its giant Sakhalin-2 development in Russia's Far East, the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin Energy operating consortium is negotiating to sell the output to Shell's US affiliates, WGI understands....

Oman LNG partners offered train 3 equity.(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... The Omani government has offered a 5% stake in its third LNG train to Spain's Union Fenosa, and a 20% stake to the existing Oman LNG consortium--in which the government has 51%, Royal Dutch/Shell 30%, Total Fina Elf 5.54%, and a mix of...

Market insight: channel traffic closed. (Insight).
July 24, 2002... Prompt UK spot gas tumbled below 9 pence per therm ($1.40 per million Btu) last week, as it emerged that the main avenue for sending North Sea summer surpluses to mainland Europe--the Interconnector UK pipeline--will remain closed at least into...

UK energy policy comes under attack from all sides. (Current).(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... The UK government is under mounting pressure to radically overhaul energy policy as part of a review that is expected to result in legislative proposals in the form of a white paper by year-end. Some of the sharpest criticism so far has come...

Asian gas producers race headlong into cooperation. (Horizon).(Brief Article)
July 24, 2002... While heavily publicized attempts at solidarity by Algeria, Russia, and other European gas suppliers have come to little as yet, Asia's Big Three gas exporters--Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia--are rushing headlong into what looks like an...

Chinese supply shifts.(natural gas)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 31, 2002... The Chinese government is examining options for supplying Beijing and the rest of northeastern China with domestic gas, without relying on imports from Russia. Or such is the word from inside China. The extent to which this "domestic only"...

US LNG terminal coming up for sale?(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... For a facility that has been closed for 20 years, after only a few years of operation, Williams' Cove Point LNG terminal in Lusby, Maryland, has attracted a remarkable amount of attention--and controversy--lately. First, a security scare...

Russia confident on supplying China.(with gas)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... Recent high-profile claims by Chinese officials that they don't want or need Russian gas hit like a bucket of cold water on Gazprom, coming as they did less than a month after Gazprom had joined Royal Dutch/Shell and Exxon Mobil in a consortium...

New Italian network code similar to UK's.(access law affects Snam Rete Gas and Edison)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... Italy's energy regulatory authority has published a ruling guaranteeing open access to the national gas transmission network, now 98% owned by ENI-spin-off Snam Rete Gas and 2% by Edison. System operations envisaged under the ruling will...

Politics favor direct Algeria-Spain pipeline.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... More than a few eyebrows were raised two years ago when Algerian state Sonatrach and Spain's Cepsa announced their intention to build a new, direct gas link capable of carrying 8 billion-10 billion cubic meters per year of Algerian gas to...

Shell agrees to do something in Algeria.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... The scope of potential cooperation is broad under the memo of cooperation signed last week between Algerian state Sonatrach and Royal Dutch/Shell. It was the result of "several months of work," according to Sonatrach downstream Vice President...

Israel cancels tender.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... Israel cancelled a scheduled Jul. 26 tender for construction of a $250 million-$300 million domestic gas pipeline network, leaving all sides unclear as to the next step. The cancellation followed the rejection earlier last week of a...

UK watchdog attacks.(Energywatch questions Ofgem on electricity rates)(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... Statutory UK consumer watchdog Energywatch has again called on Ofgem, Britain's energy regulator, to explain why lower wholesale prices achieved under its New Electricity Trading Arrangements (Neta) have not been passed on to residential...

Gazprom hints at new EU sales terms.(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... Although no changes are imminent, Russia's Gazprom is mulling over ways in which it might revise the terms of its gas deliveries to Western Europe, in light of the European Union's demand that it drop restrictions on resale of gas inside the EU...

Market insight: rocky mountain relief. (Insight).(Kern River Pipeline)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 31, 2002... A new dynamic is expected to reshape Western US gas markets next year. Rocky Mountain producers hope this will be the last summer in which they lace rock-bottom prices, while California end-users should pay less of a premium for gas at the...

Good time to inject UK gas into Dynegy's storage? (Insight).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 31, 2002... A heat wave over England has sent gas demand--and prices--plummeting. Already depressed by the closure of the Interconnector UK at least into early August, day-ahead gas on Jul. 29 at the UK's national balancing point (NBP) was fetching only...

Nigeria's electricity woes lighten--but only slowly. (Current).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 31, 2002... Nigeria's drive to rehabilitate its electricity system is starting to yield results, with new gas-fired generation capacity also helping to reduce gas flaring. But the government still has a long way to go before achieving its goal of more than...

In future, US energy merchants to revert to utility past. (Horizon).(Brief Article)
July 31, 2002... When former Enron President Jeffrey Skilling testified before a US Senate committee investigating the collapse of the one-time trading giant, he bragged that Enron had created commodity markets where none had been before. In retrospect, perhaps...