World Gas Intelligence articles from September 2007

World Gas Intelligence archives from September 2007

Soemarno upbeat on Bontang.
September 5, 2007... There may yet be hope for Indonesia's ailing Bontang LNG plant as the government is becoming more flexible on exporting domestic gas as LNG, according to state Pertamina's chief executive, Ari Soemarno, in an interview with World Gas...

Sonatrach ends Gassi Touil deal.
September 5, 2007... Algerian state Sonatrach has terminated a 2004 agreement with Spanish Repsol YPF and Gas Natural (GN) to develop the 4 million ton (5.5 billion cubic meter) per year integrated Gassi Touil LNG project, the two Spanish firms announced in...

Chevron's Nigeria projects slipping.
September 5, 2007... More of Nigeria's big gas projects are falling behind schedule, raising suspicions that flaring won't be eliminated until after the end of the decade--and at least two years after the government's official deadline of 2008. Sasol Chevron's...

GDF Suez: Sarkozy wins the day.
September 5, 2007... Eighteen months ago it was billed as Suez merging with, although effectively taking over, smaller cousin Gaz de France (GDF): Their combined market capitalization was around [euro]72 billion (then $85 billion) (WGI Mar.1 '06,p3). Now the roles...

Shell sells Gorgon LNG to PetroChina.
September 5, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell announced this week a 20-year deal to sell 1 million tons per year of LNG (1.38 billion cubic meters) to state PetroChina, primarily from the delayed Gorgon project off Western Australia. The two firms have signed a heads...

Mol chief ponders pipes.
September 5, 2007... Hungary's Mol wants to take part in both the EU-backed Nabucco and the Gazpromled South Stream pipelines, but both still have a long way to go before they come to fruition, Chief Executive Gyorgy Mosonyi told WGI in a recent interview. "We are...

Gazprom picks up power.
September 5, 2007... State-run gas monopoly Gazprom is making further progress with its plan to become a major player in Russian electricity, launching an offer recently to buy minority stakes in Moscow utility Mosenergo, in which it had already built up a 49.9%...

Change at Sakhalin LNG.
September 5, 2007... Russian state-run Gazprom will take over the top job at the consortium developing the huge Sakhalin-2 project on Russia's Pacific shelf in second-half 2007, as the current head of Sakhalin Energy, Royal Dutch Shell-appointed Ian Craig, has said...

Singapore LNG impetus.
September 5, 2007... Singapore's plans for an LNG import terminal are moving forward with the launch of a "request for proposals" process to look for LNG suppliers. Speaking at the LNG Supplies for Asian Markets conference in Singapore, the country's minister...

Faster Canadian slide.
September 5, 2007... Canadian gas producers had a great year in 2005, when hurricane-related interruptions in the US took as much as 10 billion cubic feet per day (103 billion cubic meters per year) of gas out of the North American market and boosted the annual...

Marubeni enters Peru.
September 5, 2007... Japanese trading house Marubeni last week bought a 10% stake in Peru LNG from South Korea's SK Energy for $100 million. It marks Marubeni's third investment in overseas LNG, as it already owns a 7.3% interest in the original Qatargas-1 LNG...

Market insight: Hurricane hype.(INSIGHT)
September 5, 2007... Bidweek had its usual dose of volatility thanks to overzealous hype surrounding the initial tracks of Hurricane Dean, but ultimately gas prices ended on a down note as the Nymex September gas futures contract moved toward expiry. However, some...

North American gas and comparative fuel prices.
September 5, 2007... NORTH AMERICAN GAS AND COMPARATIVE FUEL PRICES ($/MMBtu) Pipeline Sep. Aug.'07 Jul.'07 Aug.'06 Point/City Gate Bid-Week* Henry Hub $5.43 $6.23 $6.20 $7.26 ...

US offshore wind projects facing serious headwinds.(CURRENT)
September 5, 2007... Although offshore wind projects are sprouting up in numerous spots off Europe, especially the UK, they've not gained much traction along US coastlines (WGI Feb.7,p7). The plug was pulled late last month in one of only two large-scale US...

GAS and power prices for major US and European hubs.
September 5, 2007... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for four trading days, spanning Aug. 28-31. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Sep. 3 for day-ahead delivery Sep. 4. European power prices are from exchanges on Sep....

New elements reshape US LNG landscape.(HORIZON)
September 5, 2007... The US LNG market has been particularly volatile so far this year, with low imports in winter and record highs over the late spring and summer (WGI Aug.22,p6). Fall and winter activity remains hard to gauge, as so much depends on weather and...

Gazprom's eastern strategy.
September 12, 2007... The long-term plan to develop Russia's East Siberian and Far Eastern gas reserves that was finally approved by Moscow late last week was flagged in advance and contains few surprises. The plan will be coordinated by state Gazprom and gives...

PetroChina goes for pricey term LNG.
September 12, 2007... PetroChina's dramatic entry into global LNG last week with two Australian supply deals may well mark a turning point in China's gas strategy. Within days the affiliate of state-backed China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) first inked a...

Another Shtokman surprise coming?
September 12, 2007... Russian state Gazprom is nearing a decision to add one or more new partners to the consortium developing the huge Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea. Gazprom's next pick could be as surprising as its choice of Total as the first foreign...

US Northeast pipes expand to take LNG.
September 12, 2007... Efforts to site LNG receiving terminals onshore in New England have so far come to naught. But by the end of 2008, the US region nonetheless could see more than 1 billion cubic feet per day of regasified LNG (7.5 million tons per year) flowing...

Spain, Algeria play complex gas game.
September 12, 2007... Energy links between Spain and Algeria took a still more convoluted turn late last week. Just days after Spain's Repsol YPF and Gas Natural (GN) revealed that Algerian state Sonatrach had terminated their contract to develop the integrated...

Norway's Gassco outlines lengthy plans.
September 12, 2007... Norwegian subsea gas network operator Gassco brags that it's always juggling an $8 billion portfolio of projects. These range from the definite $1.2 billion Skanled pipe--which could get even bigger if Poland books extra capacity--through the...

Repsol set to ship Peru LNG to Mexico.
September 12, 2007... Repsol YPF was the sole bidder last week to supply LNG to Mexico's Pacific Coast, a region that struggles with limited gas supply and sparse gas transport infrastructure. The Spanish firm will likely be declared the winner in a matter of weeks...

Dutch merger stopped.
September 12, 2007... Essent and Nuon called off their planned merger into a Dutch national energy champion worth [euro] 24 billion ($33 billion) Friday after shareholders disagreed on its ownership split. The two Dutch utilities now look more exposed than ever to...

Market insight: Asian spot lull.
September 12, 2007... The Asian LNG spot market surprised many by remaining relatively quiet last month. One reason looks to be that full storage tanks limited traders' ability to pick up cargoes while US gas prices are at low levels (p8). Winter buying isn't...

Nuclear industry concedes nuclear renaissance in doubt.(CURRENT)
September 12, 2007... Despite all the hype about a global nuclear "renaissance," nuclear power's share of world electricity generation could well decline over the next quarter-century. Nuclear generating capacity should increase between now and 2030 as new reactor...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
September 12, 2007... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Weekfor five trading days, spanning Sep. 4-10. European gas prices are.WGI assessments on Sep. 10 for day-ahead delivery Sep. 11. European power prices are from exchanges on Sep....

Low gas prices push out US production, while LNG still flows.
September 12, 2007... The inherent volatility of North American natural gas prices and the continued inflexibility of the global LNG market are both on glaring display at the moment--acting as reminders that bringing large volumes of new LNG onto markets over the...

Chevron's Bontang push.
September 19, 2007... Chevron's interest in the Kutei Basin gas fields off East Kalimantan that it inherited with the purchase of Unocal is, indeed, on the upswing after years of neglect--a shift designed to give Indonesia's ailing Bontang LNG plant a chance to...

One stall, one step forward on Nabucco.
September 19, 2007... Prospects may be looking up a bit for the Nabucco pipeline that would link Turkey to Austria, despite the apparent absence at a closely watched conference in Budapest last week of any firm advances on either new sources of gas or new partners....

Full Dolphin output not before mid-2008.
September 19, 2007... The cross-border Dolphin project is exporting only around 800 million cubic feet per day (8.3 billion cubic meters per year) of gas from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates and will not reach the planned 2 billion cubic feet per day until...

Others entering Iran as French waiver.
September 19, 2007... Over the last five months, with sanctions pressure ratcheting up over its nuclear program, Iran has inked preliminary deals with four new companies on various aspects of developing of South Pars gas reserves for export. The lineup could be...

Osaka gas: back to a buyers' consortium.
September 19, 2007... As the LNG business becomes more competitive and buyers find themselves increasingly stretched in a sellers' market, one Japanese utility is looking to spread its risk not only by investing in more upstream assets, but also by going back to the...

Industry spending in Bolivia still modest.
September 19, 2007... The relatively modest $588 million that 12 companies pledged to invest in total in Bolivia this year belies government claims that their plans represent a new investment phase that will lead to higher output. Instead, slated investment will...

US LNG imports plunge, Asia gains.
September 19, 2007... After holding at stubbornly high levels of around 2 billion cubic feet (42,000 tons) per day through August and early September, LNG imports into the US abruptly plunged to little more than 1 Bcf/d late last week in a clear sign that the...

ICE UK gas futures.(INSIGHT)
September 19, 2007... ICE UK GAS FUTURES Contract Sep. 17 Week's Sep. 17 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu Oct. '07 31.87 35.00/29.20 6.36 Nov. 39.87 41.50/39.00 7.95 Dec. 43.78 45.80/43.60 8.73 Jan....

NYMEX US gas futures.(INSIGHT)
September 19, 2007... NYMEX US GAS FUTURES Contract Sep. 17 Week's Sep. 10 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu Oct. '07 6.653 6.69/5.25 5.891 Nov. 7.317 7.34/6.23 6.716 Dec. 7.932 7.95/7.17 7.476...

Market insight: Ormen Lange start.(INSIGHT)
September 19, 2007... English poet John Keats called it the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness." Gas traders know otherwise. Autumn is a period of price and supply volatility, marked in Europe by the Oct. 1 commercial start for new fields and supply contracts....

European border price estimates.(INSIGHT)
September 19, 2007... EUROPEAN BORDER PRICE ESTIMATES Prices Effective Sep. '07 (US$ per Million Btu) Algeria From/To: CIS Netherlands Norway LNG* Belgium ...

Germany's E.On takes plunge into Russian power sector.(CURRENT)
September 19, 2007... Germany's E.On is set to make the biggest foreign investment to date in the Russian power sector in a deal that will give it control of wholesale generating company OGK-4. The German firm at the weekend with a 100 billion rubles ($3.95 billion)...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
September 19, 2007... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for five trading days, spanning Sep. 11-17. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Sep. 17 for day-ahead delivery Sep. 18. European power prices are from exchanges on...

Russia's Arctic Kara Sea gas potential 'bigger than baltic'.(HORIZON)
September 19, 2007... If you thought there was a lot of gas in the Barents Sea--home to the estimated 3.7 trillion cubic meter (130 trillion cubic foot) Shtokmanovskoye field, among others--wait until you see the Arctic Kara Sea just to the east (WGI Sep.12,p2)....

Wingas: EU litmus test.
September 26, 2007... Wingas, the venture owned 65% by German chemicals giant BASF and 35% by Russia's Gazprom, could well become a key battleground in the fight to turn the latest European Commission energy liberalization proposals into EU law. And BASF and...

Korea, Gazprom talks focus in on LNG.
September 26, 2007... South Korean state Korea Gas (Kolas) has accelerated talks with Gazprom on obtaining additional Russian gas supply since Moscow earlier this month finally approved its long-term plan to develop and sell the country's East Siberia and Far...

Harsh realities cloud Caspian hopes.
September 26, 2007... Western officials never miss an opportunity when visiting the Caspian to state their desire to buy more gas directly from the region in order to enhance European Union energy security and reduce reliance on Russia. But the optimism expressed in...

Karachaganak dates.
September 26, 2007... Although planning for Phase 3 development of Kazakhstan's giant Karachaganak field is still in the "early think phase," final approval will be given early next year, head of BG's Kazakh operations Lewis Affleck told WGI in the capital city of...

Race is on to build LNG FPSO.
September 26, 2007... The race is on to develop the world's first LNG floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, as Netherlandsbased SBM Offshore and Norway's Heogh LNG have announced separate plans to develop an LNG FPSO by early next decade. ...

Venezuela back in pipes-over-LNG mode.
September 26, 2007... Recent developments in Venezuela suggest that President Hugo Chavez is again favoring options other than LNG for the country's ample but underutilized gas resources. Last week, Chavez succeeded in resuscitating his ambitious but apparently...

The World LNG Challenge.
September 26, 2007... An Interactive Web Seminar Presentation--Coming Soon-- Energy Intelligence global gas experts Ian Nathan and Sarah Miller will address short and medium-term perspectives on global LNG markets: * Which LNG exporting countries are most at...

Norwegian LNG destined for US.
September 26, 2007... A first cargo of LNG from Norway's Snohvit project will shortly be on its way to Statoil's capacity at Dominion's receiving terminal at Cove Point, Maryland, Ian Lawrie, manager of marketing and infrastructure for Statoil, tells WGI. Laurie was...

ICE UK gas futures.(INSIGHT)
September 26, 2007... ICE UK GAS FUTURES Contract Sep. 24 Week's Sep. 24 Month p/therm High/Low $/MMBtu Oct. '07 37.35 41.20/31.65 7.55 Nov. 46.50 49.00/39.60 9.41 Dec. 49.54 51.00/43.60 10.02 Jan. '08 ...

Nymax US gas futures.(INSIGHT)
September 26, 2007... NYMEX US GAS FUTURES Contract Sep. 24 Week's Sep. 17 Month $/MMBtu High/Low $/MMBtu Oct. '07 6.370 6.73/5.73 6.653 Nov. 7.168 7.37/6.70 7.317 Dec. 7.915 8.03/7.48 7.932...

Market Insight: LNG's long haul East.(INSIGHT)
September 26, 2007... Relative LNG exporter netbacks, burgeoning US gas stores, and comparative fuel economics in Asia all suggest that the 1 million ton per month (1.5 billion cubic feet per day) or larger shift in LNG flows from US to Asian markets that began this...

US non-policy on carbon may help gas, rather than coal.(CURRENT)
September 26, 2007... Ironically, coal-rather than gas-fired power generation could end up suffering from US delays in adopting a national policy on carbon emission, as would-be developers of both conventional pulverized coal and more advanced clean coal plants face...

Gas and power prices for major US and European hubs.(CURRENT)
September 26, 2007... US prices are the weighted average of assessments by Natural Gas Week for five trading days, spanning Sep. 18-24. European gas prices are WGI assessments on Sep. 24 for day-ahead delivery Sep. 25. European power prices are from exchanges on...

Iraqi government eyes associated.(HORIZON)
September 26, 2007... International oil companies queuing up for rights to help develop Iraqi oil fields might get gas production, processing and possibly even exports as a bonus. More than 80% of the country's 110 trillion cubic feet (3.1 trillion cubic meters) of...