World Gas Intelligence articles from September 2002

World Gas Intelligence archives from September 2002

Mexico's half-rules for LNG. (liquefied natural gas terminals).(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... In their one-step-forward, one-step-back approach, Mexico's regulators are trying to advance the construction of LNG terminals by big foreign gas suppliers. However, they can go only so far before they run into a political wall. Thus, the...

Gazprom eyes deal with oil companies.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 4, 2002... Gazprom appears ready to give Russia's oil companies access to its pipeline system under viable terms in exchange for financial help in upgrading its gas transportation system, with top Russian oil major Lukoil first in line for a cooperative...

Exxon, Shell try BEB for German sales. (Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 4, 2002... Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch/Shell appear to be settling on their 50-50 BEB joint venture as the German gas marketing vehicle of choice for each, after agreeing to sell their holdings in Ruhrgas to E.On, subject to a German court ruling due in...

New ships for Snohvit, Nigeria LNG.(contract information)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 4, 2002... Total Fina Elf has entered a time charter for a 145,000 cubic meter LNG carrier with a joint-venture company owned by Norway's Leif Hoegh and Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines, with the aim of shipping LNG from the world's most northerly LNG venture:...

Shell's small-scale LNG solutions.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... Royal Dutch/Shell claims to have come up with two small-scale LNG innovations, one technical and the other geographical. The first is what it calls a "breakthrough solution" for simultaneously producing offshore oil and LNG. Given Shell's track...

Maghreb pipe boost.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... Work is under way to increase the overall capacity of the Pedro Duran Farell (Maghreb-to-Europe) gas pipeline by 50%, says Spain's Gas Natural, 73% owner of the joint venture that operates the line. The other owner is Portugal's Transgas. ...

Greek Depa for sale.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... Greece has opened a tender to privatize up to 35% of state gas company Depa, just as prospects are opening up for Greece to become a conduit for Caspian, and particularly Iranian, gas to Western Europe. Prospective investors must already be...

Denmark-Norway tie.(Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... Denmark's state oil and gas firm, Dong, is seeking regulatory permission to link up to Norway's Norpipe gas export pipeline. Dong and Norway's Statoil were competing for future gas sales to Poland, but prospects for sales by either have since...

Mideast petchems.(Bahrain and Oman petrochemical plant construction planned)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 4, 2002... Two big petrochemical projects are set to add substantially to the call on Mideast Gulf gas reserves. Bahrain is launching plans to build a petrochemical plant valued at roughly $1.5 billion. The Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco) hopes to award...

Cheniere financing.(sold majority stake in Freeport regasification terminal for five million dollars)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 4, 2002... Small independent Cheniere last week struck a deal which should ensure that financing is available for the permitting of its proposed Freeport, Texas, LNG terminal (WGI Feb.13,p5). Cheniere sold a 60% interest in the Freeport regasification...

Algiers tries to rally EU gas suppliers.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... In the weeks since the European Union rejected the profit-sharing clauses that Algeria was seeking to introduce into its gas contracts as an alternative to so-called destination clauses, progress on a new compromise solution has apparently been...

Market insight: US inventory jump. (Insight).(gas prices)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 4, 2002... The next week or two should go a long way toward determining September and October gas prices in North America, since the lion's share of summer heat--and accompanying air conditioning demand--look to be over. A recent run-up in gas prices...

Japanese electricity deregulation stirs up controversy. (Current).(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... After a hopeful start that saw competition apparently bursting out all over--but little underlying change actually taking place--the magnitude of the hurdles facing deregulation in the Japanese power sector is becoming evident. The large...

UK nuclear firm's credit crunch highlights policy conflicts. (Horizon).(British Energy)(Brief Article)
September 4, 2002... A deepening financial crisis that has engulfed UK nuclear generator British Energy, threatening the company with bankruptcy, highlights the inherent conflict in UK energy policy between market reforms aimed at delivering lower prices and longer...

GTL to make the leap.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... The program of last week's 17th World Petroleum Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, featured all the standard gas topics: exploration and production, expanding commercial applications for previously flared associated gas, LNG opportunities,...

Marathon takes Elba, Enron keeps little.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... Sealing the fate of yet another loose energy-merchant asset, Marathon last week agreed to buy Enron's contract to deliver 160 million cubic feet per day of gas to the Elba Island LNG terminal--or approximately 1.17 million tons per year of LNG,...

Russia cuts price, Turkey cuts Iran.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... A cut-off in imports of gas by Turkey, due to alleged quality problems with the gas, amounts to an attempt by Turkey "to walk away from the take-or-pay clause" in its purchase contract with Turkey, Iranian sources allege. The halt to Turkey's...

Iran's latest problem: smelly condensate.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... Iran's giant South Pars project continues to be plagued by problems and delays, with the award of new phases running several months behind and some of the existing phases encountering slowdowns (WGI May22,p2). The latest glitch concerns...

Sonatrach edges into European downstream.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... Algerian state Sonatrach has clinched its first major equity stake in southern European gas and power, in deals signed this week in Algiers with Spanish oil group Cepsa, itself 45%-owned by Total Fina Elf. And in a further sign of opening by...

Canadian oil sands at risk from Kyoto?(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's promise last week to bring the Kyoto Accord on greenhouse gas emissions to a parliamentary vote by year-end is drawing a firestorm of objections from the country's energy industry. Although the...

China's supply moves.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... Beijing is likely this month to sign an initial agreement with Indonesia for supply to China's second LNG project, to be built in Fujian province, according to officials with China National Offshore Oil Corp. CNOOC selected the BP-led...

Total's French plans.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... France's Total Fina Elf has lost its appetite for an equity stake in French state gas supplier Gaz de France (GdF) since learning of the likely low level of allowed returns, Chief Executive Thierry Desmarest told a London press conference late...

UK nuclear bailout.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... The UK government stepped in early this week with nearly $640 million in emergency financial aid to prop up ailing nuclear generator British Energy. The alternative appeared to be a declaration of bankruptcy from a company that provides around...

In praise of long-term contracts.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil claims that the roundtable hosted by Algiers last weekend revealed "a consensus between producers, consumers, and the European Commission on the fact that long-term contracts are very important as a factor...

Market insight: nothing doing.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... With China's LNG party in a lull and India's import drive barely limping along, Asian LNG suppliers face a distinct shortage of opportunities (p4). China is unlikely to plunge into more LNG projects without first seeing how its Shenzhen...

Prognosis poor, amid weak life signs for US power trade. (Current).(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... Electricity is still flowing smoothly down the wires in the US, but the power trade has virtually died. It is hard to find anybody to trade with nowadays, and survival is far from assured for many of those that are still attempting to make...

US, European utilities warm to online procurement. (Horizon).(Brief Article)
September 11, 2002... The meteoric decline over the past year or so in the online business-to-business sector has brought the demise of many an e-procurement service that was set up with high hopes at the height of the dot-com mania. But some energy-related...

Tepco back in the market.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... Earlier this year, gas exporters were lamenting the reduction of LNG intake by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) in reaction to depressed electricity demand in Japan. But that situation has abruptly reversed, since Tepco was forced to close five...

Turkish gas surplus: supplier fallout.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... Turkey's struggle to cope quietly with its burgeoning gas surplus has at long last landed unavoidably in the laps of suppliers. Their responses so far have been polarized (WGI Sep. 11,p2). Russian Gazprom--Turkey's biggest supplier--has...

Correction.
September 18, 2002... WGI in an article on page 6 of its Aug. 14 issue mistakenly reported that Tokyo Gas is Japan's largest buyer. As indicated above, Tepco buys substantially more than Tokyo Gas, and it is the country's largest purchaser of LNG.

Unassigned LNG tankers all the rage.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... Revelation by Royal Dutch/Shell that its new series of 135,000 cubic meter LNG tankers will not be dedicated to specific projects puts an almost official imprimatur on the shift away from the inevitable marriage of tankers to terminals that has...

Small advance at Iran's South Pars.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... The award of a $1.6 billion contract for development of Phases 9 and 10 of Iran's giant South Pars field to a consortium of Korea's LG Engineering and two Iranian engineering firms ends a hiatus in launch of new upstream contracts by Iran that...

Saudi gas opening not closed yet.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... The `final offer' made earlier this month by Saudi Arabia in a letter to Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch/Shell, the lead oil companies negotiating for a slice of its $20 billion-plus landmark gas initiative, offers a new formula addressing...

EU proposes gas storage measures.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... The European Commission proposed directives on Sep. 11 aimed at improving the security of gas and oil supply. The gas measures could lead to a lively debate between states that already have robust gas infrastructure and those that do not,...

Bunde trade wars.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... Efforts continue on development of each of two competing operating systems for a trading hub at the Dutch/German border. Hubco, as the North West European Hub Services Co. is known, presented a new customer services agreement at an industry...

Leveler German field.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... A 10-year contract to supply UK gas to Germany's Wingas was cleared by European Union competition officials on Sep. 12 after investigations lasting over a year--when Wingas agreed to waive a destination clause in its contracts. Wingas is a...

Oil and money in a changed world.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... Top industry executive, s and government officials from around the world will gather at London's Hotel Inter-Continental Nov. 5 and 6 for the 23rd annual Oil & Money conference. This year's topic: "Oil and Money in a Changed World." ...

Market insight: UK's lower entry costs. (Insight).(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... North Sea gas producers may have cause to toast Enron's absence, in the form of sharp cuts in UK gas landing charges. This could be the first step toward removing what had appeared to be a major obstacle to the rapid buildup in Norwegian...

Indonesia aims to pull power reform back on track. (Current).(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... The wheels of economic reform grind slowly in Indonesia, but they do grind, as evidenced by recent moves to--finally--liberalize the country's electricity market in an effort to make it a stronger magnet for foreign investment. Outside...

Pakistan might use a bit of Trans-Afghan gas, afterall. (Horizon).(Brief Article)
September 18, 2002... War on its western flank in Afghanistan, war scares with India on its eastern flank, and terrorism at home haven't yet derailed a pending jump in gas production and demand in Pakistan. But exploration activity has slowed, as companies reassess...

The new Gazprom.(liberalization efforts in Russia's gas market)
September 25, 2002... Even as financially beleaguered Gazprom is charging ahead in a campaign to extract funding for pipeline repairs from Russia's oil companies in exchange for access to those pipes, the government is gearing up again to address the related issues...

Mexican gas quest faces obstacles.(Pemex contract troubles)
September 25, 2002... As much as Pemex wants foreign help to exploit the non-associated gas reserves of the Burgos Basin, politics and Mother Nature appear to conspire against the Mexican state company reaching its goals. Good news, like Mexican gas, is in short...

Recriminations beset China LNG suppliers.
September 25, 2002... Strains are beginning to show publicly from the intense level of competition among LNG developers for contracts to supply China. Local press reports have appeared suggesting that the Australian government leaned on the North West Shelf...

Pushing Germany toward competition.(liberalization of Germany's gas market stepped up)
September 25, 2002... Government efforts to speed up Germany's often half-hearted gas market liberalization picked up momentum at both national and European Union level last week: Berlin tightened conditions on E.On's proposed $10 billion takeover of Ruhrgas, and...

Elusive Indian imports.(raft of issues keep gas imports out of India)
September 25, 2002... One project to import gas into India has been shelved and another is hanging on by a thread, both due in large part to the shortage of credible buyers. Technology problems and concern over adequacy of reserves were also issues in the recent...

Israeli gas hurdles.(Israel Electric Co. authorized to build gas network)
September 25, 2002... The Israeli government last week sought to rescue a failed tender process and end years of delay in setting up a gas grid by authorizing the country's anticipated main gas consumer, state Israel Electric Co. (IEC), to build the entire gas...

Uruguay strikes out.(deal to buy gas from Argentina)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Uruguay finds itself in the awkward position of having agreed to buy gas from Argentina that it no longer has a good use for and can't really afford to buy. Last week, state power utility UTE was forced to cancel indefinitely a...

Turkish power plants.(two gas-fired power plants in Turkey open)
September 25, 2002... A ceremony last weekend marked the official start-up well ahead of schedule of two gas-fired power plants in Turkey, operated by the Royal Dutch/Shell and Bechtel joint venture InterGen in the industrial area of Adapazari, 150 kilometers east...

Russia strikes deal with Turkmens.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2002... Russia and Turkmenistan last week initialed an intergovernmental agreement on long-term deliveries of Turkmen gas to Russia--an accord that goes some way toward ending a long-standing dispute which has stymied Turkmen efforts to gain more...

Market insight: oil, Iraq, and outages. (Insight).(oil prices rise)
September 25, 2002... As light, sweet crude oil prices homed in on the $30 per barrel mark this week, gas prices on both sides of the Atlantic were being dragged along toward $4 per million Btu. In continental Northwest Europe, especially, where oil forms the main...

Shortages loom as India inches toward power reform. (Current).
September 25, 2002... An already overstretched Indian power sector is facing the prospect of serious electricity shortages in the years ahead. Reform of the sector to encourage desperately needed investment in new generation capacity and an upgrading of the...

Profits, consumer savings from US decontrol hard to find. (Horizon).
September 25, 2002... These were going to be the halcyon days for US energy merchants, and the country's consumers were going to win big, too. Deregulated electricity and gas markets would prevail across the land, and profits would pour into the coffers of the...