World Gas Intelligence articles from September 2006

World Gas Intelligence archives from September 2006

PNG LNG back in play.
September 6, 2006... Australian Oil Search has had a topsy-turvy few weeks in its attempts to develop and monetize what it reckons are at least 25 trillion cubic feet (708 billion cubic meters) of gas in Papua New Guinea's highlands. Within weeks of finding out its...

Qatar Petroleum wins LNG Award 2006.
September 6, 2006... Early next decade, state Qatar Petroleum (QP) is likely to find itself with a majority stake in no less than 77 million tons per year of liquefaction capacity, with Qatar having in the latter years of this decade taken over the top slot among...

Iran's South Pars 'ahead of itself'.
September 6, 2006... Iran has issued a tender for the implementation of new phases of its giant South Pars gas development program, which kicked off in 1997 and has so far provided more than 5 billion cubic feet per day (51.7 billion cubic meters per year) of gas...

Ichthys upbeat, North West shelf up.
September 6, 2006... Japanese upstream firm Inpex last week agreed to sell a 24% stake of its Ichthys field in Western Australia to France's Total, which will leave Inpex with 76%. In mid-August, the Australian government granted "major project facilitation" status...

India's Dabhol in double trouble.
September 6, 2006... Dabhol power project in the western Indian state of Maharashtra is turning out to be a nonstarter yet again. Despite the former Enron plant now belonging to Indian state companies, it still cannot viably generate and sell power in India using...

E.On teams up with Adria LNG.
September 6, 2006... The five-company Adria LNG consortium and E.On Ruhrgas said Tuesday they have agreed to prepare joint feasibility studies for the construction of an LNG regas terminal in Croatia. It's envisaged to complete the feasibility and basic engineering...

Gazprom accepts Turkmen gas price.
September 6, 2006... After a lingering dispute, Gazprom has agreed to new terms with Turkmenistan, including a higher price for its gas, in order to avoid a repeat of last winter's disruptions in supplies to Europe. Gazprom has agreed to pay $100 per thousand...

UK LNG trade develops.
September 6, 2006... Algerian state Sonatrach's imports at the UK's Isle of Grain LNG import terminal during its first full year of commercial operation were two-thirds more than BP's, with overall imports for the period representing only three-fifths of Grain's...

Storm in a bear-pit.(MARKET INSIGHT)
September 6, 2006... Tropical hurricane activity provided nothing short of a roller coaster ride for US natural gas traders during bid week--the last five trading days of each month. The on-again, off-again path forecasts of Hurricane Ernesto caused big volatility...

Regional US carbon controls may fall short of goals.(Current)
September 6, 2006... The atmosphere was heady surrounding release last month by seven Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states of the first cap-and-trade program in the US aimed at reducing carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) emissions. The rules, developed by the so-called...

LNG players stick with integrated model--for time being.(Horizon)
September 6, 2006... With LNG one of the fastest growing energy commodities, the industry's future is becoming an issue of increasing importance. In its early days, the "Japanese model" held sway, followed more recently by the similar "LNG pipeline" approach (WGI...

Gas politics in Brazil.
September 13, 2006... Brazil's 126 million voters head to the polls on Oct. 1. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers Party (PT) scored 47% in the latest poll, putting him far ahead of his nearest challenger, Sao Paulo State Governor Geraldo Alckmin of...

New pipes help ease UK winter prices.
September 13, 2006... A mild late summer, coupled with confirmations that new import pipes are almost ready and a second LNG terminal on its way, has caused UK prices to ease dramatically for gas both for day-ahead and next winter delivery. In the latest...

Excelerate, Gazprom talk UK LNG.
September 13, 2006... An interesting new dynamic should be evident this winter in the Atlantic Basin LNG market when US Excelerate Energy completes its GasPort terminal offshore Teesside in the UK, designed to receive tankers with onboard regasification capacity....

Peru strikes novel Camisea price deal.
September 13, 2006... The government of Peru and the private consortium producing gas from the first phase of the Camisea project agreed last week on an innovative new pricing formula to shield domestic consumers from sharp increases in international gas and fuel...

India, Iran tackle gas price dispute.
September 13, 2006... Iran, Pakistan and India have hired consultants Gaffney Cline to try and sort out the contentious issue of pricing for gas that would flow from Iran to India via a 2,600 kilometer pipeline traversing Pakistan. Failure by the parties to agree on...

Oman looks upstream as gas runs short.
September 13, 2006... Faced with an increasingly severe gas supply crunch, Oman continues to push ahead with plans to bring in new players to develop its tight gas reserves, most notably at the Khazzan field, which one ministry official has described as "probably...

Trinidad PM lashes out at US.
September 13, 2006... US relations with Trinidad and Tobago hit a startling low last week when Prime Minister Patrick Manning blasted the US for its slow pace on Caribbean trade issues and a lack of commitment in the war on drugs in a speech to top oil and gas...

Market insight: Asian LNG premium.(Insight)
September 13, 2006... A sudden absence of pricey Atlantic Basin spot cargoes is evident in Japanese import data for July, and looks to have continued in August (WGI Jul.12,p6). Also helping pull average Japanese costs down to $6.86 per million Btu in July, from...

Looming power crisis gets Russian reform moving at last.(CURRENT)
September 13, 2006... Russia faces possible electricity disruptions this winter and for the next couple of years, because repeated delays in reforming the country's power sector have stalled much needed investment, Anatoly Chubais, head of national utility UES,...

German spot trade: E.On Ruhrgas seeks market-maker role.(Horizon)
September 13, 2006... Europe's uber-defender of long-term contracts, E.On Ruhrgas, has not only named its home market of Germany as its prime target for developing spot trading operations, it is also preparing to launch a "choice market" in its north German...

Indonesia LNG from Malaysia?
September 20, 2006... Sending gas from the giant Exxon Mobil-operated Natuna D-Alpha field in Indonesian waters to Malaysia for conversion into LNG, and possibly for pipeline distribution in that country as well, is one of several developments that Indonesian state...

Russia draws fire in Sakhalin spat.
September 20, 2006... A growing spat between the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project and Russian authorities has the potential to put another big dent in Russia's already battered reputation as a reliable supplier of energy to world markets--although that's not...

Indonesia's domestic priority debate.
September 20, 2006... A lack of clarity in Indonesia's domestic gas laws is hampering the country's long-running effort to boost gas production and funnel it into a hungry local market, numerous sources inside the region contend. Across the archipelago, majors are...

Shell's Hazira terminal linked to Indian grid.
September 20, 2006... State Gail India has completed a pipeline spur to Royal Dutch Shell's Hazira LNG facility and connected the 2.5 million ton per year (9.5 million cubic meter per day) receiving terminal on India's west coast to its Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur...

Exxon describes secrets of its success.
September 20, 2006... Exxon Mobil's track record of regularly delivering projects may be a key reason that its Sakhalin-1 oil and gas development and production project in Russia's Far East has not run into the same problems as the Royal Dutch Shell-operated...

European trader talk.
September 20, 2006... Europe's energy traders have given an initial response to E.On Ruhrgas' scheme to become a north German gas market-maker, starting with creation of a so-called "choice market" through the purchase and sale of modest amounts of gas on the north...

Centrica's LNG snag.
September 20, 2006... Plans by Centrica and partners for an LNG terminal at Canvey Island near London by 2010 have been rejected by the local authority, in stark contrast to last month's approval of Excelerate's fast-track Teesside LNG terminal by a separate local...

LNG storage craze spreads further.
September 20, 2006... At least seven loaded LNG vessels are currently sitting at sea, biding their time until higher prices make it more profitable to unload their cargoes. Excelerate and Royal Dutch Shell are engaged in these storage plays, and WGI hears that Suez...

Market insight: UK's gas quality dither.(Insight)(Industry overview)
September 20, 2006... Once-rocketing prices for UK gas to be delivered over the coming winter have dropped by 25% over the past six months, as it has become clearer that new pipelines and LNG terminals into the UK should ease the supply situation (WGI Sep. 13,p1)....

US carbon cap-and-trade schemes inch closer to fruition.(Current)
September 20, 2006... Greenhouse gas curbs are sprouting up along the heavily populated US coasts, but it's still unclear when and how emissions trading will result. Most recently, California has taken some bold steps in the direction of limiting emissions of...

LNG project financing matures along with LNG industry.(Horizon)
September 20, 2006... Like the LNG industry it supports, the financing of LNG projects is coming of age. Gone are the days of tight constraints on debt levels, strict requirements for long-term sales and purchase agreements, and inflexibility regarding plant...

French LNG shake-up.
September 27, 2006... France is heading for an LNG shake-up. Two newcomers look set to launch a major new terminal in 2011 at Le Havre on the English Channel, while Gaz de France (GdF) has offered to expand its Montoir terminal on the Atlantic coast, offering new...

Stretching out Qatar's moratorium.
September 27, 2006... It's likely to be 2009 before Qatar approves any new LNG or gas-to-liquids projects--if it does then. Qatari sources confirm reports that a technical study of the North Field reservoir will not be complete before late 2008, at the earliest (WGI...

Tangguh sold out, third train likely.
September 27, 2006... Successful renegotiation of the pricing and other terms for supply of LNG from Indonesia's Tangguh project to China National Offshore Oil Corp.'s (CNOOC) second receiving terminal, now under construction at Fujian, means that the first two, 3.8...

Uphill battle faces US LNG developers.
September 27, 2006... Two steps forward, one step back has long seemed an apt description of the battle to site new LNG facilities in the US. But recent gridlock over the vast majority of proposed projects along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts suggests a rhythm...

Medgaz ready to go--except for sales.
September 27, 2006... Pedro Miro, chairman of the Medgaz consortium backing a direct 8 billion cubic meter per year (775 million cubic foot per day) pipeline from Algeria to Spain, told a conference in Madrid last week that project partners have everything in place...

Pipeline moves affect Canadian LNG.
September 27, 2006... The Bear Head LNG project in Nova Scotia, on Canada's east coast, received what could be a major setback this month when the Duke-operated Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline that runs down through the US Northeast canceled a contract with...

Pricey German gas.
September 27, 2006... Germany's average wholesale gas import price reached almost $8 per million Btu in July, as lagged indexation to oil prices in long-term contracts took its toll on buyers in mainland Europe's largest market after Russia. German customs...

Endesa extra time.
September 27, 2006... As the EU Commission this week issued its verdict on barriers constructed two months ago by Spain to German E.On's proposed 29.1 billion [euro] ($37 billion) takeover of Endesa, Spanish construction group Acciona pulled off a coup of its own:...

September LNG lull.(MARKET INSIGHT)
September 27, 2006... The LNG spot market is in a seasonal lull, with little demand in Asia, the US or Europe. So it's hardly surprising that several cargoes are still floating in the Gulf of Mexico and around Europe--some with no designated home as yet--as...

Nuclear industry moving briskly onto global growth track.(Current)
September 27, 2006... After years in the doldrums, the nuclear industry may be poised for a period of growth the likes of which has not been seen since the 1970s. Many anticipate a huge surge in orders for new plants, as well as replacements for existing capacity...

Russia's Ukraine, Sakhalin, Shtokman campaigns reverberate.(Horizon)
September 27, 2006... In an energy-short world, gas sellers have long since pushed buyers--and middlemen--out of any proximity to the driver's seat. Russia, the biggest gas seller of them all, seems particularly determined to take full advantage of its time behind...