29 March 2024
Gas Matters Today | news roundup | w/c 23 Nov 2020
Publication date: 30 November 2020
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Europe’s biggest oil and gas companies and others have agreed a new framework for methane emissions [2] reporting and reduction that aims to establish a “gold standard” for transparency in what has hitherto been a highly opaque area lacking consistency and credibility.
Ghana – Ghana is poised to join the LNG importers’ club after its maiden regasification project Tema LNG reached financial close [3] by securing a loan from an Africa-focussed development fund.
Australia – The second train at the Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG plant [4] has recommenced production, several months later than scheduled after weld quality issues were discovered on T2’s propane heat exchangers in July.
ExxonMobil has called off the multi-billion-dollar sale [5] of its oil and gas assets in the Bass Strait after apparently failing to attract sufficiently high bids.
Tasmania can meet 100% of its power demand using renewables, the island’s energy minister Guy Barnett claimed last week, as he announced state plans to double clean power capacity by 2040 [6], expand the hydrogen industry and export more electrons to mainland Australia.
EU – Gas-fired power plants will not qualify as “sustainable” investments unless they feature carbon-capture technology or run on hydrogen under new European Commission rules, potentially undermining gas as a bridge fuel [7] towards the EU goal of ‘net-zero’ emissions by 2050.
Denmark – A prominent CCS project has cleared the first regulatory hurdle after independent certification body DNV GL and Danish authorities confirmed the offshore reservoir of the proposed Greensand CCS project [8] is feasible for CO2 injection.
Italy – TSO Snam has set out a strategic plan to achieve operational carbon neutrality by 2040 [9] and invest USD 8.8 billion over the next three years in decarbonisation, with a heavy emphasis on preparing its network to carry zero-emissions hydrogen.
Norway – Certification specialist DNV GL has halted work on Nord Stream 2 [10], the Gazprom-sponsored pipeline between Russia and Germany, citing the threat of recently-tightened US sanctions.
Spain – Repsol has unveiled its 2021-25 strategic plan that will see the Spanish firm cut its dividend and direct more capital towards its low-carbon business in a bid to meet its 2050 target of net-zero carbon [11] emissions.
UK – France’s EDF is looking for commercial partners to help develop hydrogen production [12] and direct air capture demonstrator projects at its proposed Sizewell C new nuclear power station in Suffolk, England.
Shell Energy Europe and Ørsted have signed separate 15-year power purchase agreements [13] covering a large chunk of the electrical output from the first two phases of the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank wind farm in the North Sea – the world’s largest project of its kind.
Israel – Delek Group painted a stable portrait of itself in its third-quarter 2020 results [14], citing a tripling in revenue and operating profit despite a tough year that saw it sell off numerous assets in order to assuage creditors.
United Arab Emirates – Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council has announced the discovery of 22 billion barrels [15] of recoverable onshore shale oil, with the regulator also confirming the Emirate’s conventional oil reserves have increased by 2 billion barrels.
Egypt – Barcelona-based Naturgy is closing in on a new deal to sell its 50% stake in Union Fenosa Gas to Italy’s Eni, in a move that could finally see the mothballed SEGAS LNG facility [16] in Egypt return to service.
US – Venture Global has awarded KBR the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the first phase of the Plaquemines LNG plant [17] in Louisiana, five months after KBR stated it was exiting lump sum EPC contracts in the LNG sector.
Midstream outfit Williams has reached a provisional settlement with bankrupt producer Chesapeake Energy over disputed gas transport and gathering contracts [18], with Williams agreeing to take ownership of some upstream assets in exchange for lower fees.
Russia – Gazprom believes it can capitalise on the “slowdown” [19] in the US shale gas industry and global LNG sector, which could impact the “long-term development prospects” of these sectors.
India – PM Narendra Modi has raised energy targets, with gas now expected to cover 25% of the Indian energy mix [20] by 2030 and oil refining capacity to double to 8 million barrels/d over the next five years.
India’s largest gas distributor GAIL has submitted an expression of interest to the country’s energy regulator to build a 450-km gas pipeline [21] across the gas-starved east coast state of Andhra Pradesh.