World Gas Intelligence articles from September 2003

World Gas Intelligence archives from September 2003

More spot stress for Kogas.
September 3, 2003... After a severe winter in 2002 that sent Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) traders scrambling the world over for spot cargoes, the state gas company signed medium-term contracts for 2 million tons per year, starting with around 35 cargoes this winter,...

Belgium offers LNG backdoor route to UK.(liquefied natural gas)
September 3, 2003... Promoters of UK LNG import terminals should keep an eye out for potential backdoor competition from cargoes landed and regasified in Belgium and then piped out through Interconnector UK (WGI Jul.9,p4). Belgian network operator Fluxys said...

Cove Point capacity holders seek supply.(Maryland, USA)
September 3, 2003... Now that the 1 billion cubic foot per day (7.7 million ton per year) Cove Point, Maryland, US LNG receiving terminal is more or less operational, capacity holders BP, Royal Dutch/Shell, and Statoil face the challenge of deciding how best to use...

Boosts for Indonesian LNG from China, US.(liquefied natural gas)
September 3, 2003... Indonesia's gas export plans got boosts over the last week from LNG project developments in both China and the US. US Marathon announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for LNG supplies to its planned Tijuana Regional Energy...

Russia, Ukraine agree on 2004 gas terms.
September 3, 2003... Moscow and Kiev late last week signed an intergovernmental protocol providing for a 5.6% increase in Russian deliveries into the Ukrainian system via the Gazprom network in 2004, to 127.8 billion cubic meters. Of that, at least 110 Bcm, and...

Bolivia behind Peru in LNG supply race.(liquefied natural gas)
September 3, 2003... Recent approvals for LNG terminals in Baja California, Mexico, have upped the stakes for two South American projects eager to supply the Mexican and US markets (WGI Aug.20,p1). But while Peru's Camisea project is advancing despite environmental...

Centrica imports early.(Brief Article)
September 3, 2003... UK Centrica is to start importing term gas from Statoil this October, two years ahead of schedule, under a new three-year bridging contract signed last Friday for delivery of 2 billion cubic meters per year (193 million cubic feet per day). ...

German tariff shifts.(Brief Article)
September 3, 2003... Germany's Economy Ministry has presented legislative proposals to parliament for regulating access and charges for the country's privately-owned gas and electricity networks. The ministry had already declared that it would establish a...

Market insight: Gazprom, Wingas look west.(Insight)
September 3, 2003... Russia's Gazprom has sold spot gas in Belgium and the UK sporadically for four years (WGI Nov.27,p1). Now it is starting to supply industrial end-users in both countries, as well, through Wingas, the German-based marketer owned 65% by BASF...

European grid robust for now--but will it last?(Current)
September 3, 2003... In the wake of the recent US power outages, European grid operators were quick to claim that a similar widespread sudden loss of electricity was unlikely in their systems. But the reasons they gave must be disconcerting for advocates of...

Why US looks increasingly immune to gas price crash.(Horizon)
September 3, 2003... Record-high levels of gas were injected into storage over the summer in the US, amid a torrent of inventory rebuilding after a harsh winter left stock levels at record lows (WGI Jun.4,p6). The heavy injections point to a supply and demand...

India's troubled gas tender.
September 10, 2003... Only four of the nine or more potential bidders that initially expressed interest in Indian National Thermal Power Corp.'s (NTPC) 3 million ton per year, 17 year gas supply contract have anted up to go on to the next stage and negotiate...

Brazil's big gas find changes landscape.
September 10, 2003... Word last week that Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras has abruptly raised estimates of recoverable reserves from the deep waters of the Santos Basin to at least 14.8 trillion cubic feet (419 billion cubic meters), from less than 2.5 Tcf, sets...

Golar aiming to expand LNG interests.
September 10, 2003... Two years after laying out the concept of an independent LNG shipping business, the world's largest independent owner of LNG carriers, Golar LNG, has an eye out to parlay its position as a global shipper into involvement in more lucrative...

Another Italian LNG project progresses.
September 10, 2003... Developers of a floating LNG regasification terminal offshore the city of Livorno in northwest Italy expect to get planning consent this month from national and regional authorities and, if all goes to plan, award a full construction contract...

Indonesia's vague LNG deal with Sempra.
September 10, 2003... Indonesian officials say that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with US Sempra to supply LNG to the West Coast of North America, the second such agreement with a North American project developer in a month. Indonesia is apparently...

Petroplus LNG flux.
September 10, 2003... Dutch refiner and tank storage group Petroplus has secured planning consent to expand its proposed UK LNG import terminal at Milford Haven in southwest Wales by 50% to 9 billion cubic meters per year (870 million cubic feet per day). But this...

Gorgon gains ground.(Brief Article)
September 10, 2003... The proposed ChevronTexaco-led Gorgon LNG development off Australia moved a good deal closer to reality with this week's go-ahead from the Western Australian state government for the estimated $7 billion plan to develop gas far out on the...

Irish upstream mix.
September 10, 2003... The summer saw some progress in Ireland's upstream gas sector, with UK independent Ramco significantly raising its estimate for reserves at its Seven Heads development But the future of Royal Dutch/Shell's Corrib field still hangs in the...

Iberdrola aids Medgaz.
September 10, 2003... Spanish electricity operator Iberdola has taken a 12% stake previously owned by Italy's ENI in the delayed Algeria-to-Spain Medgaz pipeline--a move seen as improving prospects for the $1.3 billion scheme. It comes after Spain's Cepsa last...

Statoil buys Trinidad LNG for Cove Point.
September 10, 2003... Norway's Statoil has concluded its first term contract for LNG to bring into its capacity at the Cove Point, Maryland, LNG receiving terminal on the US East Coast--for 1 billion cubic meters per year (roughly 100 million cubic feet per day or...

Market insight: US finely balanced.(Insight)
September 10, 2003... Mild autumn weather and expected heavy storage injections could weigh on North American gas markets in the weeks ahead, but prices are unlikely to break below $4 per million Btu with winter around the corner. Fears of inventory shortages...

US blackout proves no cure for partisan squabbling.(Current)
September 10, 2003... Even with the recent blackout that affected some 50 million people in the US, efforts to reform the management and operation of the country's electricity grid are likely to run afoul of bitter partisan politics in Washington (WGI Aug.20,p8)....

German, Dutch ministers recommend more regulation.(Horizon)
September 10, 2003... The German and Dutch economy ministers last week each detailed proposals for future regulation of their respective, closely intertwined energy markets. While these require parliamentary approval, something not expected until early 2004, they...

Gazprom, Conoco LNG team.
September 17, 2003... As it stakes out a role for itself in US LNG markets, Russia's Gazprom is aiming to start with a political bang, while moving more gradually on the commercial side--probably in partnership with ConocoPhillips. A high-ranking Gazprom...

Japanese firms adopt altered LNG stategies.(liquefied natural gas )
September 17, 2003... The reverberations from deregulation moves in Japan's gas and power sectors are being felt as increasing turbulence in a global LNG business that grew up as a reflection of the highly conservative, long-term nature of Japanese corporate...

Danes plan pipeline to Dutch, UK markets.
September 17, 2003... Denmark's state Dong and three partners are aiming to build by autumn 2004 a new 100 kilometer subsea gas pipeline linking the Danish Tyra offshore gas field to the existing Dutch offshore Nogat pipe--thereby opening up a direct export route...

Turkey still faces gas glut, despite cuts.(natural gas imports)
September 17, 2003... Turkish state gas importer Botas is no stranger to the problems caused by its own overly rosy predictions of double-digit domestic gas demand growth. The 1999 economic crisis and its devastating earthquake put paid to such forecasts, leading...

Algeria's slow gains at Gassi Touil LNG.(Berkine Basin fields liquefied natural gas)
September 17, 2003... Algeria's $2 billion Gassi Touil integrated gas project, aimed at developing some 10 billion cubic meters per year of gas production from six western Berkine Basin fields for export as LNG, is set to be reopened to selected international...

Connecting Norway.(electricity to the United Kingdom)
September 17, 2003... Norway's Oil and Energy Ministry has rejected an electricity interconnector to the UK that state power grid operator Statnett was proposing to build in partnership with the UK's National Grid Transco, arguing that the "socioeconomic" viability...

Shell to supply Mexico.(Royal Dutch/Shell)
September 17, 2003... Mexico's Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) last Thursday awarded its LNG buy tender to sole bidder Royal Dutch/Shell, at a premium to Henry Hub prices of 17.99 cents per million Btu. Shell is to supply 500 million cubic feet per day of gas...

RWE exits US trading.(Brief Article)
September 17, 2003... After just 18 months of operation, German utility RWE is pulling the plug on its US gas and electricity trading unit, effectively abandoning plans to acquire gas and power assets in the US to support the faltering business. It employed 134...

Typhoon hits tankers.(Ty[phoon Maemi, South Korea)(Brief Article)
September 17, 2003... Typhoon Maemi, which recently swept through South Korea, has left LNG shipbuilding powerhouses Daewoo, Samsung, and Hyundai facing possible adjustments to their already tight delivery schedules. Together, the three yards--which include two of...

BG out to be tops in Atlantic Basin LNG.(BG Group)
September 17, 2003... BG Group aims to have the largest LNG position in the Atlantic Basin by 2007 through a combination of equity gas, liquefaction capability, purchase agreements, owned and chartered LNG tankers, and receiving terminal capacity, BG LNG Services...

Market insight: Tiga mysteries.(Insight)(Tiga project)
September 17, 2003... The shadow over global LNG markets for the coming winter lengthened with official word from Malaysian LNG (MLNG) that operation of the first train of the two-train Tiga project will be disrupted for at least six months, until March or April...

Mixed fortures for wind power subsidies in Europe.(Current)
September 17, 2003... Although wind power is being promoted as the leading next generation energy source in the European Union, it remains to be seen whether the technology can make the transition from promising upstart to generation mainstay. Of all the...

First new US LNG terminal approved--more to follow.(Horizon)
September 17, 2003... Sempra proved last week that it isn't impossible after all when it got final approval from US regulators to build the first new LNG receiving terminal in the US in 25 years--heralding the possibility of approval for an array of new LNG...

Ship yards fill up.
September 24, 2003... Golar LNG this week squeaked by with what is likely to be the last order for a new tanker available for delivery before the end of 2005. The independent LNG shipper Monday signed up for a 145,000 cubic meter LNG carrier from South Korea's...

Exports off, majors leave Bangladesh.
September 24, 2003... Bangladesh looks to have abandoned for the time being the idea of exporting gas to neighboring India (WGI Mar. 19,p4). As a result, foreign oil companies led by Royal Dutch/Shell and ChevronTexaco are selling their assets in Bangladesh to...

Total buys from NLNG train 6 for--where?
September 24, 2003... Nigeria LNG has signed a second long-term supply deal from its planned Train 6, and its first-ever with shareholder Total, which agreed to take 1.2 billion cubic meters (870,000 tons) per year over 20 years. As is typical for NLNG but not...

Tractebel eyes Peru LNG for Mexico.
September 24, 2003... Suez affiliate Tractebel is in discussions with other companies active in Peru about taking LNG from the Camisea project to a regasification terminal that the Belgian firm would like to build in the port of Lazaro Cardenas, on Mexico's Pacific...

TransCanada, Conoco eye Maine for LNG.
September 24, 2003... Will a partnership of a major oil company and an established North American pipeline operator have a better chance of developing an LNG receiving terminal on the US East Coast than an unknown entrepreneur? TransCanada PipeLines and...

Conoco lobbies for help on Alaska pipe.
September 24, 2003... US Congressional negotiations aimed at finally producing an omnibus energy bill so far are going as hoped for by North Slope gas producer and gas pipeline backer ConocoPhillips (WGI Sep. 10,p7). However, exploitation of the Alaskan methane...

Danish gas sale.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2003... Denmark's AP Moller-Maersk has concluded a deal to sell 600 million cubic meters per year (58 million cubic feet per day) of its Danish gas production to Norsk Hydro over five years starting in autumn 2004. It's the first Danish long-term...

US-Russia summitry.
September 24, 2003... Visions of Russian LNG heading to the US within a few years--sparked when Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Ryazanov said on the sidelines of this week's Russia-US Energy Summit in St. Petersburg that Gazprom would likely sign a...

No UK-Norway fix.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2003... The UK and Norway won't be signing an energy treaty this week after all (WGI Sep.17,p4). The treaty is imperative for the construction of a planned pipeline to transport gas from the Ormen Lange gas development to Easington in the UK (WGI...

Shell's India show.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2003... Royal Dutch/Shell has significantly raised the profile of the Hazira LNG import terminal that it is building in Gujarat in northwest India, with a Sep. 19 ceremony to unveil progress at two cryogenic storage tanks. Gujarat Chief Minister...

Market Insight: flexing the Dutch market.(Insight)
September 24, 2003... Gasunie's soon-to-be-independent pipeline business GTS, Dutch utility Nuon, and chemicals group Akzo Nobel are planning to build a quick-release gas storage facility near Zuidwending, not far from top Dutch gas producer NAM's giant Groningen...

Eastern Europe jumps on power integration Bandwagon.(Current)
September 24, 2003... The eastward expansion of the European Union through the slated entry of 10 new members in 2004 promises to bring closer integration of the power markets in these candidate countries with the integrated cross-border electricity market that is...

Japanese buyers get tough ahead of contract renewals.
September 24, 2003... Japan's Kyushu Electric Power is set to double the amount of LNG it buys from the Royal Dutch/Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project to 1 million lion tons per year. Deliveries are to start in 2010 under a 21-year supply contract. On a recent visit to...