World Gas Intelligence articles from May 2008

World Gas Intelligence archives from May 2008

More gas to Egypt's Segas.
May 7, 2008... The gas supply situation at the Spanish-Egyptian Gas (Segas) venture's long under-performing 5 million ton per year LNG export train at Damietta has improved, industry sources tell WGI, along with prospects for a second train at the site (WGI...

More LNG due from Indonesia's Bontang.
May 7, 2008... LNG markets look set to receive modestly increased LNG supply from Indonesia in 2008 for the first time in years, easing a bit an ongoing global supply squeeze in a year that is also expected to see nearly 20 million tons per year in new or...

BG bets big on CBM--and going global.
May 7, 2008... BG became the first international LNG player to make a big bet on the nascent coalbed methane (CBM) to LNG business with last week's announcement of a A$12.9 billion (US$12.1 billion) bid for Australian gas utility Origin Energy. With what is...

Spain's LNG terminals expanding rapidly.
May 7, 2008... Spain, already Europe's largest LNG market with six operating terminals together capable of regasifying some 53.15 billion cubic meters (39 million tons) per year of LNG, continues to expand its LNG receiving capacity at a rapid rate--despite...

Bolivia's producing states seek autonomy.
May 7, 2008... Last Sunday's referendum in one of Bolivia's richest hydrocarbons provinces, Santa Cruz, in which a large majority of the population voted in favor of autonomy from the central government, is exacerbating a political crisis that has kept badly...

Trinidad 'Train X' still under study.
May 7, 2008... Although plans for a fifth LNG train in Trinidad, the so-called "Train X," have been in deep freeze for some time, the train still hasn't been declared officially dead (WGI Aug.29, p2). On the contrary, the government of Trinidad and Tobago...

Gazprom storage.
May 7, 2008... Gazprom is aiming to accumulate more gas in underground storage over the coming summer than it did last year in an effort to ensure stable supply to its customers, while also pushing ahead with the expansion of its gas storage facilities in...

Market insight: US over $11 and rising.(INSIGHT)
May 7, 2008... Bidweek in the US gas market was nothing short of astonishing for most traders. Nymex gas futures rolled off the board at more than $11 per million Btu--a first for the May contract. Fundamental issues of supply and demand seem to matter...

Europe looks offshore for wind power expansion potential.(CURRENT)
May 7, 2008... The bulk of Europe's over 57 gigawatts of wind-generating capacity is onshore, but ambitious goals for expanding the power source are sending promoters offshore in search of new sites (WGI Apr.9, p7). Europe's top spot for wind generation,...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
May 7, 2008... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for five trading days, spanning Apr. 29-May 5. European gas prices are WGI assessments on May 6 for day-ahead delivery May 7. European power prices are from exchanges on May...

Qatar, Japan pull ahead as LNG trade grows 8% in 2007.(HORIZON)
May 7, 2008... Project delays and outages brought a slowdown last year to not quite 8% in the sharp 12% growth rate seen in 2006 in LNG deliveries worldwide. Still, the rise to almost 171 million metric tons reported in the 2007 report on global LNG trade by...

Qatargas almost done diverting.
May 14, 2008... LNG consumers should not expect a further proliferation of new Qatari long-term agreements on top of the series of contracts already inked with Asian and Mideast gas customers so far in 2008, Qatargas head Faisal al-Suwaidi told WGI in an...

Gazprom field awards are not just politics.
May 14, 2008... The new Russian government's preliminary decision to transfer several highly appealing licenses to Gazprom without tender, bypassing the powerful Ministry of Natural Resources, is about more than politics. It speaks volumes about the urgency...

Acknowledging the truth about Iran.
May 14, 2008... This week's swap by Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol YPF of Phase 13 of the giant South Pars gas development--slated to supply an LNG plant--for later phases of the field merely acknowledges what has been obvious for some time: Iranian LNG projects...

World gas use up in 2007, Europe down.
May 14, 2008... World consumption of natural gas increased by 2.5% in 2007 to just over 2.95 trillion cubic meters (285.4 billion cubic feet per day), according to provisional estimates by Paris-based Cedigaz. But that modest growth rate conceals sharp...

Prospects grim for US LNG terminals.
May 14, 2008... Prospects for merchant LNG receiving terminals in North America are far from bright these days, as a plunge in Cheniere's stock price this week illustrates. The company's shares sank as low as $3.65 Monday after it reported a $50 million...

Germany declares gas releases a success.
May 14, 2008... Gas market competition in Germany has benefited from a six-year gas release program, during which E.On Ruhrgas auctioned 19 billion cubic meters of gas to rivals, the economy ministry which mandated the scheme says. Yet E.On Ruhrgas still...

Why Reliance may sell a bit of KG-D6.
May 14, 2008... A quest for deepwater technology and production prospects outside India are the factors that motivated Reliance Industries to open talks this year with majors including BP, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell on the possible sale of a 5%-30%...

Market insight: Asian LNG price creep.(INSIGHT)(Industry overview)
May 14, 2008... Although winter demand is long gone and summer yet to arrive, LNG spot prices are creeping back up in Asia--in tandem with the crude oil and North American gas markets. Traders warn that buyers should be prepared to pay up to $15 per million...

Attack on carbon capture and storage grabs headlines.(CURRENT)
May 14, 2008... Environmental lobby group Greenpeace has put European and other governments worldwide on the defensive with a report arguing that commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a worthless concept in the fight against climate change and...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
May 14, 2008... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for five trading days, spanning May 6-12. European gas prices are WGI assessments on May 12 for day-ahead delivery May 13. European power prices are from exchanges on May 12...

Exxon develops cheaper, easier CO2 separation system.(HORIZON)
May 14, 2008... Exxon Major has been looking for decades for a technology that would allow it to exploit the trillions of cubic feet of carbon dioxide-saturated natural gas in the Natuna D Alpha Block offshore Indonesia. Last week, the company indicated it may...

Gazprom in North America.
May 21, 2008... Russia's Gazprom is finally set to take an ownership position in the North American gas sector through a stake in the proposed Rabaska LNG import facility near Montreal, Quebec, in Canada--in what is likely only its first move into...

Eni eyes direct gas sales in Russia.
May 21, 2008... Eni plans to start direct gas marketing inside Russia by 2009-and it's not talking about doing so through a joint venture with Gazprom. This coincides with continued progress by Gazprom in expanding its direct marketing potential in Europe. ...

Qatari Western LNG strategy concerns.
May 21, 2008... The consistent lag in US and UK gas markets behind oil-indexed LNG prices available elsewhere is creating substantial concern within Qatar about the wisdom of the Western-oriented strategy that underlay the ongoing massive expansion of that...

CNOOC expands footprint in spot LNG.
May 21, 2008... A few years ago, many in the industry doubted China's willingness to pay market prices for LNG. Now, China's second receiving terminal, in Fujian, is set to further expand state China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s (CNOOC) footprint in the...

New LNG team: Argentina, Venezuela.
May 21, 2008... Argentina is setting natural gas records these days, although hardly for new output. Besides becoming the first Latin American country to import LNG, Argentina is now the first identified buyer of prospective Venezuelan LNG as Caracas again...

France getting electronic gas exchange.
May 21, 2008... Gaz de France (GDF), GRTgaz and Powernext--the Paris-based electricity trading company--are aiming to launch a French electronic gas trading exchange platform by the end of 2008. This was announced along with the acquisition by GDF and GRTgaz...

Algeria eyes 2009 for new export pipes.
May 21, 2008... Algeria is on track to complete its next major gas export project, the 8 billion cubic meter per year (775 million cubic foot per day) Medgaz pipeline to Spain, by mid-2009 as scheduled (WGI Mar.12,p1). That timeframe could also see a...

Market insight: Europe prices still rising.(INSIGHT)
May 21, 2008... European end-user gas prices continued to climb between January and April, due to their indexation to record-high oil prices, according to WGI's latest End-User Price Supplement, compiled by Energy Advice. Power prices, by contrast, were mostly...

Visible and invisible aspects of E.On's divestment plan.(CURRENT)
May 21, 2008... The details announced last week of E.On's plan to sell off 4,800 megawatts of generating capacity, as well as its 10,000 kilometer high-voltage electricity grid, are seen by many as a rather audacious preemptive strike aimed at appeasing the...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
May 21, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Weekfor five trading days, spanning May 13-19. European gas prices are WGI assessments on May 19 for day-ahead delivery May 20. European power prices...

LNG supply additions shrink in 2008, may swell in 2009.(HORIZON)
May 21, 2008... It's now clear: Only about half of the nearly 20 million tons per year in new liquefaction capacity that at the start of this year looked set to begin operation in 2008 will actually do so by year's end, due to delays at Tangguh LNG,...

WGI supplement: European End-User Prices.
May 21, 2008... Gas Prices: 100,000 cm/yr 1 Million cm/yr Typical High Low Typical High Low Belgium Apr. '08 3.51 3.69 3.23 3.17 3.33 2.92 Jan. '08 3.25 3.42 2.99...

Shell's complex Iran play.
May 28, 2008... On the face of it, Iran's recent deal with partners Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol YPF involves a relatively straightforward swap of one phase of Iran's South Pars gas development project for another to be developed later--when international...

Egypt's LNG prices, even exports at risk.
May 28, 2008... Egypt is fighting a rearguard action against mounting pressure at home to halt gas exports. Domestic criticism of the poor terms the government secured for its gas export deals has simmered for some time, but the anti-export camp has gained...

Russia Kogas deal progresses, China no.
May 28, 2008... Russian gas exports to China look to have come no closer to realization in the course of a state visit by new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Beijing last week. However, gas sales talks with South Korea do seem to be gaining momentum, and...

Wingas woos poles with Nord Stream link.
May 28, 2008... The Wingas joint venture of Russian state Gazprom and German chemical major BASF says its proposal to build a spur to Poland from one of its new onshore German pipelines is being discussed with Polish state PGNIG. If the idea advances, it could...

Sulawesi LNG start date slips further.
May 28, 2008... Despite progress in negotiations on the price of feedgas for Mitsubishi's planned Sulawesi LNG plant, also known as Senoro-Donggi, the project is facing yet another delay, according to Indonesian independent Medco Energi. The latest target for...

Alaska pipe politics.
May 28, 2008... The scramble for position in a multibillion-dollar project to bring Alaskan North Slope gas to the lower 48 US states continued last week when the Alaska governor endorsed a TransCanada proposal to build the line over a competing scheme...

Eni, EDF in Belgium.
May 28, 2008... As Gaz de France's (GDF) merger with Suez nears completion, the two companies have begun exclusive talks on the sale of strategic Belgian assets which, if completed as expected, could see European energy market consolidation entrenched to the...

EU's GDF probe.
May 28, 2008... The European Commission announced May 22 that it is opening formal antitrust proceedings against Gaz de France (GDF). It suspects GDF of abusing a dominant position and using restrictive business practices, both contrary to European Union law,...

Spanish gas demand dips as hydro up.
May 28, 2008... Gas demand in Spain looks to be easing amid a much improved hydropower situation, but continued strong coal prices keep a floor of sorts under the market. Hydro reserves were at 57.3% of total capacity on May 20, versus 47.6% on Apr. 8 (WGI...

Market insight: US LNG prospects.(INSIGHT)
May 28, 2008... The US may finally see a seasonal boost of LNG imports soon--although it's not evident yet, with intake still teetering between 900 million and 1.1 billion cubic feet (21,000 tons) per day. The netback gap across the Atlantic Basin is narrowing...

EU 2020 renewables target termed unrealistic, gas a winner.(CURRENT)
May 28, 2008... European power companies are likely to fall far short of the European Union target of delivering 20% of final energy from renewable sources by 2020 and instead will remain heavily reliant on gas-and coal-fired generation, according to...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
May 28, 2008... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Weekfor five trading days, spanning May 20-26. European gas prices are WGI assessments on May 27 for day-ahead delivery May 28. European power prices are from exchanges on May 27...

Calls for rethink of Russian-EU relations get more attention.(HORIZON)
May 28, 2008... If anyone doubted Russian hostility to European Commission proposals to not only oblige integrated gas and power firms to divest their networks but also to penalize energy investment from third countries that lack European Union-style unbundled...