World Gas Intelligence articles from November 2007

World Gas Intelligence archives from November 2007

Gazprom, Gasunie swap.
November 7, 2007... A week after BASF and Gazprom "largely completed" their Nord Stream-related asset swap--and before E.On has finalized its longawaited deal with the Russian state company--Dutch state gas network Gasunie this week firmed up its earlier accord to...

GTL may run down before it runs up.
November 7, 2007... Has the gas-to-liquids (GTL) business peaked--or at least plateaued--before it ever really got going? Indications out of Qatar and Nigeria, homes to the world's only active major GTL projects, are to the affirmative. As so often recently, the...

Libya confirms Eni at top Of LNG queue.
November 7, 2007... The head of Libya's National Oil Corp. (NOC), Shokri Ghanem, confirmed to WGI last week that Italy's Eni has the gas reserves in place in Libya to produce and export a further 8 billion cubic meters per year (775 million cubic feet per...

BG LNG earnings soar--amid slippages.
November 7, 2007... BG's LNG division turned in a strong third-quarter showing as it arbitraged several cargoes into the high-priced East Asian market. Project delays and disruptions have already reduced the company's pool of available supply, new source...

Brazilian gas cuts add to Bolivia's allure.
November 7, 2007... Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will travel to Bolivia later this year to discuss increasing gas imports from that country, Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim said this week. Lula's talks with Bolivian President Evo...

Mystery surrounds Oman LNG for Kogas.
November 7, 2007... State Korea Gas (Kogas) hopes to start importing LNG by end-2008 under a long-term contract for up to 2 million tons per year from Oman, a Kogas official tells WGI--leaving market watchers wondering where Oman will find additional feedgas to...

GN, EDP: rival Iberian strategies.
November 7, 2007... Leading Spanish supplier Gas Natural (GN) has outlined its strategy out to 2012, including plans to invest [euro] 12.5 billion ($18.1 billion) over the coming five years. But it's not alone in making a pitch for the Iberian gas and power...

Market insight: US rebounds, regardless.(INSIGHT)
November 7, 2007... US gas industry records were broken last week when domestic storage volumes breached 3.5 trillion cubic feet, an all-time high. But heavy speculative influences that sent US December crude oil prices to an intraday record high of $97.10 per...

US senate debates first serious US carbon reduction bill.(CURRENT)
November 7, 2007... With the US debate over federal climate change legislation just beginning and a law unlikely to result until a new president takes office in early 2009, a bill is wending its way through the Senate that is serious enough to finally give...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.
November 7, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Weekfor five trading days, spanning Oct. 30-Nov. 5. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Nov. 5 for day-ahead delivery Nov. 6. European power...

Qatar's Al-Attiyah discusses rising costs, peak gas, GTL.(HORIZON)(Interview)
November 7, 2007... Just hours before accepting the Petroleum Executive of the Year award at Energy Intelligence's Oil & Money 2007 conference in London last week, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah al-Attiyah spoke to WGI on...

Unresolved Angola LNG issues.
November 14, 2007... The multibillion-dollar Angola LNG (ALNG) project inched forward this month, with orders placed for LNG vessels and a deal concluded to connect the receiving terminal into a US Gulf gas pipeline. However, with negotiations still ongoing on...

Non-US Atlantic LNG spot trade picks up.
November 14, 2007... Mexico is providing a home for the occasional Egyptian cargo--surprisingly perhaps, in view of the pull exerted on African cargoes by the strong East Asian LNG market at present (p6). Union Fenosa Gas (UFG) delivered an Egyptian cargo...

Guangdong Dapeng eyes expansion.
November 14, 2007... China's Guangdong Dapeng LNG receiving terminal has been operating for barely over a year but, spurred by robust gas demand in the province, it may proceed sooner rather than later with envisaged expansion, WGI has learned--if supply can be...

Shell's Dutch offer to Russia on Yamal.
November 14, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell, undeterred by recent setbacks in Russia, where it was forced to cede control over its massive Sakhlalin-2 LNG project on the Pacific shelf to Gazprom, has identified as its new target no less a prize than the huge, untapped...

Projects still aim to bring LNG to Florida.
November 14, 2007... Bringing LNG to Florida is no easy task. Project developers hoping to compete with regasified LNG piped in from Elba Island across the state line in Georgia have long seen only two possibilities given environmental constraints and tight...

Sonatrach: Galsi smiles, Spanish scowls.
November 14, 2007... Smiles were in evidence all round in Rome last week, as the Sonatrach-led Galsi pipeline consortium concluded an agreement on linking their planned pipeline to the Italian national networkof Snam Rete Gas. The contrast with Spanish Gas...

Waiting for Baltic LNG.
November 14, 2007... Gazprom's on-again, off-again approach to the Baltic LNG project continues--keeping not only several prospective partners but also at least two Canadian LNG terminal projects in suspense. A source involved in negotiations to join Baltic LNG...

Ice UK gas futures.(INSIGHT)
November 14, 2007... ICE UK GAS FUTURES Contract Month Nov. 12 p/therm Week's High/Low Nov. 12$/MMBtu Dec. '07 54.48 55.00/49.40 11.19 Jan. '08 58.32 59.35/53.10 11.98 Feb. 57.26...

Nymex US gas futures.(INSIGHT)
November 14, 2007... NYMEX US GAS FUTURES Contract Month Nov. 12$/MMBtu Week's High/Low Nov. 5$/MMBtu Dec. '07 7.961 8.34/7.50 7.999 Jan. '08 8.329 8.71/7.90 8.401 Feb. 8.389 ...

Market insight: Asia's LNG pull.(INSIGHT)
November 14, 2007... The momentum behind Asian winter LNG buying appears well-sustained into November, with news that Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) is looking to raise its LNG imports yet again. Without a firm date for reopening its over-8 gigawatt...

India adopts 'Ultra-Mega' electricity goals, to uncertain effect.(CURRENT)
November 14, 2007... Undeterred by missed targets, the Indian government has adopted an ambitious five-year plan to add 78,000 megawatts of new generation capacity by March 2012. New Delhi sets five-year targets for all economic sectors, with the latest being the...

Will natural gas production peak or plateau--and when?(HORIZON)
November 14, 2007... While a consensus seems to be building around the concept of peak oil--that it will happen at some point before too long if it hasn't already--the jury is still out on natural gas. Production will doubtlessly top out at some point, but industry...

Turkmenistan still cautious.
November 21, 2007... Despite renewed hope this year that gas-rich Turkmenistan will open up fully to international investment--bringing enough gas in its wake to perhaps allow the country to contribute to European supply--the Central Asian republic is treading...

Gazprom advances with export schemes.
November 21, 2007... Gazprom is advancing in talks with potential international partners involved in Russian gas export schemes, including both pipeline gas shipments to China and potentially lucrative LNG supplies to North America from a Gazprom-proposed Baltic...

China solicits foreign CBM investment.
November 21, 2007... As China's gas usage soars at double-digit annual rates and imported LNG and pipeline gas get more expensive, the government is anxious to attract more investment in recovering gas from coalbed seams. The potential is big--China's coalbed...

UK pulls in cargoes from Trinidad.
November 21, 2007... Strong UK gas prices--and perhaps higher output at the long under-achieving Atlantic LNG (ALNG) Train 4--are encouraging BP to move Trinidadian LNG cargoes across the Atlantic to the UK's Grain terminal. Other Atlantic Basin production...

Petronas, E.On Eye European Storage.
November 21, 2007... Companies ranging from Malaysian state Petronas to German giant E.On are stepping up spending on gas storage in Europe--not surprisingly given security of supply concerns and the large winter premium visible in Northwest European gas prices....

Petrobras dives back into Bolivian gas.
November 21, 2007... Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras has definitively placed neighboring Bolivia back on its investment radar screen, reversing an earlier decision by the Brazilian company to turn its back on the Andean nation in response to its hydrocarbon...

Scramble on for Asian LNG supply.
November 21, 2007... The scramble for new LNG supply in Asia is intensifying as the 2009-10 expiry date for many Indonesian supply contacts approaches. Malaysia LNG (MLNG) has announced a sale and purchase agreement to provide up to 920,000 tons per year to Japan's...

Market Insight: NBP volumes soar.(INSIGHT)
November 21, 2007... The UK National Balancing Point (NBP) has seen phenomenal growth in traded volumes over the last year, new data show. Dutch TTF has also grown strongly. They and third-ranked Belgium's Zeebrugge remain by far Europe's most active gas trading...

UK government launches carbon capture competition.(CURRENT)
November 21, 2007... Developers of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects are gearing up for a government-backed competition to financially support a post-combustion, commercial-scale project at a coal-fired power station on the UK mainland. The government...

Gas and Power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
November 21, 2007... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for five trading days, spanning Nov. 13-19. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Nov. 19 for day-ahead delivery Nov. 20. European power prices are from exchanges on...

Welcome to the trendy new, Enlarged LNG shipping club.(HORIZON)
November 21, 2007... South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo recently handed over two brand new, 210,000 cubic meter LNG vessels to state Qatar Petroleum (QP), the first so-called "Q-Flex" ships. An innocuous enough event it might seem--but actually a sign of a subtle...

Gasunie's German move.
November 28, 2007... Agreement by Dutch state gas transport firm Gasunie to buy the BEB gas network from 50-50 owners Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell means that, in the future, suppliers may be able to book capacity for gas flows from eastern Germany right across...

Floating LNG plants drift into sight.
November 28, 2007... How long will it be before the world's first floating LNG production vessel is up and running? "Within seven years," one senior Royal Dutch Shell executive confidently tells WGI, while marine specialists Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) and German...

Oddly warm Eni, Gazprom relations.
November 28, 2007... Gazprom and Italy's Eni have taken some small steps toward implementing their very big cooperation plans, including agreement last week to set up a special purpose vehicle for building the proposed 900 kilometer (560 mile) South Stream pipeline...

Vietnam could be gas importer by 2015.
November 28, 2007... Vietnam's gas sector is expanding so rapidly that the country may need substantial imports as soon as 2015, WGI is told. "We are studying all options for additional gas imports," says an executive with Petrovietnam Gas, a unit of state...

US gas prices near long-term floor.
November 28, 2007... The $7.50 per million Btu price range that US consumers are enjoying at the moment may be as good as it gets, because the stable domestic performance that is keeping markets comfortably supplied even with minimal LNG intake could start to...

Weaver's Cove fights.
November 28, 2007... Hess LNG is continuing its uphill battle to build the 400 million cubic foot per day (3 million ton per year) Weaver's Cove onshore receiving terminal near Boston--despite rejection of the scheme earlier this month by the US Coast Guard, the...

Market insight: Europe's spot surge.(INSIGHT)
November 28, 2007... Despite a roughly 50 cents per million Btu rise in US gas prices over the last month, exporter netbacks on sales to the US continue to look pale in comparison to beefy returns on sales to Northwest Europe. The UK and Belgium now offer netbacks...

Spain keeps regulated power prices low as demand grows.(CURRENT)
November 28, 2007... Electricity tariffs designed to protect Spanish consumers from excessively high prices are likely to cost generators more than [euro]1.7 billion ($2.5 billion) in 2007, according to the latest forecast from Spanish Industry Minister Joan Clos....

Algeria faces end to era of easy gas, supply gap looms.(HORIZON)
November 28, 2007... Delays in Algerian export projects--both pipeline and LNG--have been well documented, and most observers are aware that Algeria's target of a boost in foreign sales to 85 billion cubic meters per year (8.2 billion cubic feet per day) by 2010,...