World Gas Intelligence articles from March 2006

World Gas Intelligence archives from March 2006

Indonesia rethinks renewals.
March 1, 2006... The drive by Indonesia to keep more of its gas at home rather than exporting it--fueled by a mix of resource nationalism and economic incentive to develop its domestic gas market now that it is a net importer of oil--may be spreading to the...

Repsol's dark horse Russian LNG project.
March 1, 2006... The Yamal peninsula--an alternately frigid and swampy quagmire on the Arctic Sea whose name means "end of the world" in the region's indigenous dialect--has suddenly emerged as a contender in the heated race to build Russian LNG export...

Suez, GdF combo would be LNG giant.
March 1, 2006... If the merger of Gaz de France (GdF) and Suez goes through--and betting in European investment circles is on success for the French and Belgian government-backed union, albeit possibly with conditions attached--it will create not only one of...

Cheniere, excelerate: steady as they go.
March 1, 2006... "We dodged a bullet this winter on the weather side," declared Cheniere Energy President Keith Meyer at the UBS Natural Gas and Electric Utilities Conference in New York earlier this month. He was referring, of course, to the relatively mild...

China eyes price rise to cool demand.
March 1, 2006... China is weighing a sharp increase in domestic gas prices as a means to dampen rampant growth in industrial and fertilizer manufacturing demand that looks to be pulling supply from power generators. One result could he to make imported LNG and,...

Charges swirl after Camisea pipe leaks.
March 1, 2006... Although the Camisea project in Peru was touted as an environmentally friendly and culturally aware project when it went live in August 2004, the pipes transporting gas and associated liquids from Camisea to the country's Pacific Coast and...

Myanmar shifts gears.
March 1, 2006... India is virtually off Myanmar's gas export radar. Neighboring China has taken its place, according to recent correspondence between Myanmar's Petroleum Ministry and Indian authorities, but most likely for pipeline gas rather than the LNG...

Market insight: easing LNG demand.(Insight)
March 1, 2006... The global LNG market has cooled from its fever pitch earlier this winter, when Europe and Asia were engaged in a tug-of-war for every available cargo and inflows into the US plummeted (WGI Feb. 1,p6). US prices remain low in comparison to...

Europe's top utlities being selected in consolidation game.(Current)
March 1, 2006... The engagement of France's Suez and Gaz de France (GdF) is just the latest in a wave of merger and acquisition moves that is transforming Europe's energy markets (WGI Sep.7,p7). "We sense that everyone is jockeying in what may turn out to be...

Egypt has big export ambitions--now must find the gas.(Horizon)
March 1, 2006... Having secured membership in the LNG exporters club in 2005, with 125 cargoes shipped by mid-February 2006, Egypt says further trains may be added at BG's and Malaysian state Petronas' Egyptian LNG (ELNG) at Idku and Fenosa Gas-operated...

Japan, Indonesia crisis brewing.
March 8, 2006... A sharp drop in Indonesian shipments to Japan has been the key factor pushing Japanese buyers into high priced spot LNG purchases this winter, a WGI analysis of official import data for the four months of October through January indicates. ...

Total ventures into onshore China gas.
March 8, 2006... The onshore exploration deal inked last week by Total with PetroChina is likely to eventually give the French company a lucrative foothold in the downstream sector, as well, analysts in China say. The production sharing contract (PSC) covers...

LNG boom creates engineering pitfalls.
March 8, 2006... Time is of the essence for LNG projects, as companies strive to get gas into supply-constrained markets ahead of their competitors, fearful that currently stunning profits will shrivel once constraints ease at all levels of the supply chain. In...

BG near gas deal in supply-short Oman.
March 8, 2006... BG is poised to clinch a deal to develop gas resources in central Oman, as Muscat steps up efforts to utilize its tight gas reserves, so far ignored by the country's main operator Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), a senior Omani official tells...

Russia delays East Siberian gas plan.
March 8, 2006... Russia has again pushed back completion of a comprehensive plan for gas production, transportation and distribution in East Siberia and the Russian Far East, which would cover possible exports to China and other Asian countries (WGI Dec.7,p2)....

US eyes LNG-related storage services.
March 8, 2006... When they begin arriving in North America, large volumes of LNG will change the natural gas storage business significantly, as operators of both LNG terminals and third-party storage facilities face up to the challenges of fluctuating delivery...

Qatar, Romania talks.
March 8, 2006... An LNG receiving terminal in Romania is one of the potential targets for a new foreign investment unit, to be known as Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), being set up by Qatar. This could present still more competition for Russian pipeline...

Spanish trio's 2005.
March 8, 2006... The operating results of Spain's Gas Natural (GN) confirm earlier market reports: The company sold 11% less LNG into the US in 2005 than in 2004, due to tight supply back home. Trinidad cargoes, which previously were all shipped to the US, last...

Market insight: US storage glut.(Insight)
March 8, 2006... US gas prices appear poised to decline to levels not seen for many months because of an inventory glut as the market exits the winter season. About the only question left is just how much of a record will be set for gas storage volumes heading...

Coal to pinch US gas generation's 2030 market share.(CURRENT)
March 8, 2006... The sharp rise in natural gas prices in North American relative to coal and, at times, oil so far this decade will result in a much smaller share for gas of the US power generation market--even if gas prices slide substantially--and in greater...

Qatargas chief explains Train 1 outages, Tasweeq and more: Qatargas Chairman and Chief Executive Faisal al-Suwaidi talked to Raja Kiwan, Dubai-based correspondent for Energy Intelligence, on the sidelines of this week's Opec meeting in Vienna.(Horizon)(Interview)
March 8, 2006... WGI: What is the current and expected status of Qatargas Train 1? There's been confusion about this since the train developed problems last October (WGI Feb.22,p5). Al-Suwaidi: We have corrosion in the scrub column, and instead of taking...

Cove Point supply shifts.
March 15, 2006... The 2006 outlook for supply into the Cove Point, Maryland, US LNG terminal is hazy, as two of the main capacity holders have yet to announce new contracts, even as the old ones are coming to an end. BP--which like Statoil and Royal Dutch...

Gazprom, China deal looks close.
March 15, 2006... Gazprom expects to sign a cooperation agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) during President Vladimir Putin's planned visit to Beijing next week--the first indication of major progress toward eventual pipeline exports of Russian...

EU unveils energy policy proposals.
March 15, 2006... The European Commission is hoping to turn this winter's problems with Russian gas supply and the region's ongoing wave of giant utility mergers into a backdrop for a major reworking of energy policy. If it succeeds, big changes in regional and...

Kuwait Courts Iran after Qatari pullout.
March 15, 2006... Qatar's decision last month to release to other projects gas earlier promised to Kuwait is leaving Kuwait--and neighboring Bahrain--with no alternative for imports other than Iran, and at a particularly awkward moment. Kuwait is therefore...

Annual results feed Euro merger mania.
March 15, 2006... Annual results for major European gas and power players reported over the last week underscore the source of momentum behind the takeover battles now engulfing the sector: Earnings are up sharply, aided by asset sales designed to provide...

Danish gas release.
March 15, 2006... The acquisition by Denmark's state oil and gas group Dong of five smaller Danish power groups, announced over a year ago, was approved by the European Commission Tuesday subject to certain conditions. These include a substantial gas contract...

Spot UK sets new records, futures firm.
March 15, 2006... UK: spot gas prices tripled Monday to record levels when network operator National Grid (NG) issued a gas balancing alert, warning :that Supplies were so tight that industrial users might have to be interrupted. Monday's within-day gas at...

Market insight: Japanese summer plans.(Insight)
March 15, 2006... Japanese and South Korean buyers may be forced again to purchase spot cargoes from the Atlantic Basin over the coming summer, market sources say. And while Asian traders don't expect prices this time to reach the stratospheric $22 per million...

Nuclear power: key to growth for India's power sector.(CURRENT)
March 15, 2006... When India set out earlier this decade to improve energy security, it didn't stop with plans for strategic oil stocks or gas imports. Instead, policymakers decided nuclear power should be a cornerstone of the country's energy security, and they...

Tough going for LNG hopefuls on US, Canadian east coasts.(Horizon)
March 15, 2006... It's not over till the fat lady sings, the saying goes, and few things seem to support this sentiment better than setbacks afflicting even apparently advanced LNG terminal projects in the US Northeast and Canadian maritime provinces. Take...

Fading US Northeast luster.
March 22, 2006... The problems involved in developing LNG regasification facilities came into sharper focus this past week after US producer Anadarko announced it was temporarily halting its project at Bear Head, Nova Scotia, due to a lack of guaranteed supply...

Gazprom, China deal has western angle.
March 22, 2006... The joint intergovernmental declaration signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing Tuesday and the accompanying accord between Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) on Russian gas...

Woodside, BHP in race to California.
March 22, 2006... The race to build LNG infrastructure in California is heating up, with terminal developers striving mightily to devise plans palatable to the LNG-leery California public. The two that appear to be leading the pack are Woodside's Oceanway...

GdF expands abroad, eyes deals far afield.
March 22, 2006... Gaz de France (GdF) boosted gas sales volume by 6% last year to 71 billion cubic meters (749 terawatt hours), but as with Germany's E.On Ruhrgas, all the growth was abroad (WGI Mar. 15,p4). Sales inside France fell 3% to 44 Bcm, while those...

Gail India still gets PMT gas, pays more.
March 22, 2006... Attempts to inject competition into India's state-dominated gas sector have stuttered yet again with the government's refusal this week to allow the Panna-Mukta-Tapti (PMT) consortium itself to market its entire output for the second year in a...

Shell racing ahead with GTL.
March 22, 2006... Royal Dutch Shell's rationale for its extensive research and development program in alternative and renewable fuels is that this effort forms part of its broader sustainable growth efforts aimed at minimizing carbon emission, Shell executives...

Endesa's Italian OK.
March 22, 2006... The Italian government last week authorized construction and operation of a 4 billion cubic meter (2.9 million ton) per year regasification terminal 20 kilometers off the coast at Livorno. Spain's Endesa--the target of two separate takeover...

UK LNG reprieve.
March 22, 2006... The Appeals Court in London has rejected a local group's request for a judicial review into planning consents given to two big UK LNG import terminals already under construction at Milford Haven in Wales. Had the appeal succeeded, work...

Brazil's dualing gas law proposals.
March 22, 2006... Brazil's federal government has sent a proposed gas law to Congress. This comes on top of legislation drafted last summer by Senator Rodolpho Tourinho of the conservative Liberal Front Party that has backing from private energy companies and...

Market insight: euro end-user hikes.(Insight)
March 22, 2006... Large end-users in Western Europe are seeing further increases in both gas and I electricity prices, as rising wholesale prices filter down the supply chain. In all the seven EU states sampled by Energy Advice for WGI early this year, final...

Deregulated US power markets face up to capacity issues.(CURRENT)
March 22, 2006... How to insure that adequate spare capacity is on hand at all times to provide needed peak power supply? That is a question for which deregulated wholesale electricity markets in the US seem to be having great difficulty coming up with an...

North American pipeline flows start to shift direction.(Horizon)
March 22, 2006... For decades the dominant flows of North American gas have been from the producing regions in the Southwest and Gulf of Mexico to major markets in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and New England areas and from the now mature Western Canadian...

India, China slowly adjust.
March 29, 2006... Evidence is building that both India and China are slowly starting to adjust to the idea of paying internationally competitive prices for imported gas, rather than constricting demand to the low levels that can be covered by price-controlled...

LNG shortages look set to last.
March 29, 2006... That demand for LNG in both the Atlantic and Pacific Basins currently outstrips supply is no longer news. What is news is that shortages in everything from pipes to people may push any substantial relief well back into the next decade. WGI...

Yamal LNG: not yet, but not crazy.
March 29, 2006... As the global LNG boom continues and the pockets of easily accessible stranded gas are snatched up, all eyes are turning to Russia, which has the world's largest gas reserves and yet, with its heavy emphasis on pipeline sales, remains well...

E.On resists Gazprom arm twist.
March 29, 2006... Gazprom is said to be again--or still--pressing E.On for a stake in its mainland Europe gas supply business Ruhrgas, as part of a deal that would give E.On a 24.5% stake in the 700 billion cubic meter (24.7 trillion cubic foot) Yuzhno Russkoye...

South American gas prices head up.
March 29, 2006... The unusually low price of gas in Latin America is almost certainly headed up. The only remaining unanswered question is how far and whether it will remain low by international standards. It may well not. Bolivia's Hydrocarbons Minister...

Big Petronas find may mean more LNG.
March 29, 2006... A large gas discovery by Malaysian state Petronas at its PC4 field in Block 310, offshore Sarawak, could facilitate expansion of the Malaysian LNG facility. The well encountered a colossal "single gas column of 630 meters," according to...

Spain's 2005 intake.
March 29, 2006... Spanish supply figures show just how important Egyptian LNG became in 2005--and how relatively minor a role Trinidad still plays in that market. Spanish energy regulator CNE says that 34.15 billion cubic meters (397.8 terawatt hours) of...

Ukraine crisis redux?
March 29, 2006... Europe could be in for more uncertainty over Russian gas flows, given the results of last weekend's Ukrainian elections. The surprise second-place finish of a bloc led by former Prime Minister and Energy Minister Yulia Timoshenko may well lead...

French LNG snags.
March 29, 2006... Strikes in France have disrupted LNG cargo deliveries to Fos and Montoir, the two terminals owned by state-controlled Gaz de France. On Monday, four LNG tankers were waiting outside Fos on the Mediterranean, with another waiting outside Montoir...

Correction.(Correction notice)
March 29, 2006... The article entitled "Spanish Trio's 2005" in WGI Mar.8,p5 mistakenly put Iberdrola's share of the Spanish gas market at 10% in 2005. Iberdrola's correct market share last year was 14%.

Market insight: LNG turns bearish.(Insight)
March 29, 2006... Some of the intense heat is seeping out of the global spot LNG trade as winter gradually shifts to summer. But the underlying dynamics of the market are little changed from previous months, with Asia--Japan in particular--willing to dole out...

Solar market breakthrough possible, but costs still high.(Current)
March 29, 2006... About half a century of research and development has failed to move solar energy from novelty to mainstream in the global energy mix, but high oil and gas prices and government incentives--especially in Japan, Germany and the US--could finally...

Engineering, construction costs, delays hit LNG bigtime.(Horizon)
March 29, 2006... Expectations of a swell in LNG deliveries to North America by the end of this decade may prove to be far too optimistic. Liquefaction projects are running into a slew of financial and logistical roadblocks that could delay completion by six to...