September - Wordsmithe 27, Reading list

Selected Reading list for September 27, 2013 - Wordsmith

China's CNOOC plans to double LNG import capacity by 2015 Reuters

The company imported nearly 11 million tonnes of LNG last year, he added. CNOOC said in August that it had received government approval to build China's 

Japan to reach out to BC government on new LNG pricing index ... Platts

The Japanese government is seeking a helping hand from its counterparts in British Columbia to agree on a new LNG pricing formula that would be delinked 

Brazil Gets Reloaded LNG Spot Cargo From Spain at Guanabara Bay Bloomberg

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's importer of liquefied natural gas, received a reloaded spot cargo from Spain, shipping data show. The Wilgas, with a capacity of 

Nigeria LNG says coping with cut in gas supply by Shell Platts

Nigeria LNG Ltd, owners of the six train Bonny LNG plant in Nigeria's Niger Delta region, Thursday said production has not been disrupted, four days after Shell 

US-basec company designs barge-based LNG facility for TN Hindu Business Line

The US-based VGS Group has completed the design of its second $400-million Floating LNG Regasification Unit (FRU) and said it will start supplying gas to the 

Petrochemical Manufacturing and LNG Exports Key to US Economic ... Wall Street Journal

Investments in petrochemical manufacturing and liquefied natural gas facilities must move ahead to make the most of U.S. shale resources, Steve Pryor, 

LNG sourcing, trading to be GAIL's key focus Hindu Business Line

With dependence of imported natural gas becoming inevitable to meet the domestic demand, GAIL (India) Ltd is looking at further strengthening its position in 

Oilfield services hope Canada's LNG boom will lift the industry Financial Post

Oilfield service companies are hoping a boost from liquefied natural gas projects will lift the industry in 2014 after oil and gas producers spent much of the past 

Consortiums Vie For Novatek LNG Partnership The Moscow Times

Russia's largest independent gas producer, Novatek, is close to picking a third partner for its Yamal LNG project, with a Japanese and an Indian consortium 

Cheniere Energy Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Deutsche Bank ... North Fork Vue

Cheniere Energy Inc. logo Equities researchers at Deutsche Bank started coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) in a research report issued on 

LNG Bunkering Demand Seen Growing in Gulf of Mexico Ship & Bunker

As Harvey Gulf International Marine (Harvey Gulf) moves forward with the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering facility at the Port of Fourchon 

Global LNG-Asian spot LNG prices creep up, but winter buying thin Reuters

PERTH, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Asian spot LNG prices inched up toward $16 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) this week, as the winter buying season 

World's Largest Offshore Facility Developing Rapidly - Maritime Executive

Posted - September 25, 2013 -Maritime Executive

Shell's Prelude FLNG will be the largest floating offshore facility in the world; the project has moved forward at a rapid pace.

Drydocks World will be delivering the pioneering Prelude FLNG Turret Modules to Shell very soon. The first Module, the bogie support structure - standing 22 meters high, with a diameter of 30 meters and weighing 1,300 tons - will be transported to Korea to integrate with the Prelude FLNG vessel. Other modules will soon follow.

The Prelude FLNG unit will be 488-meters long and when fully loaded will weigh more than 600,000 tons. It will be the largest structure ever sent to sea, displacing as much water as a fleet of six aircraft carriers. The vessel is to work at the Prelude offshore field 200 kilometers from the Australian coast.

The turret for Prelude FLNG is the biggest turret ever built and over 800 workers are engaged in its construction. The turret is being built in five modules which when put together will weigh in at 10,500 tons. The first steel cutting took place on May 5, 2012. The nearly 100-meter mooring turret is a vital element of the vessel and along with four groups of mooring chains and suction pile anchors will constitute the largest system in the world and help the vessel to remain stable in high velocity tropical cyclone territory.

His Excellency Khamis Juma Buamim, Chairman of Drydocks World and Maritime World said, “We are extremely excited to be part of a new era in offshore gas liquefaction which will lead the way for many new and challenging projects in the years to come. The turret is essentially the heart of the mooring system and is an engineering challenge which needed to be executed with great technical precision.”

Prelude FLNG Fun Facts

Once operational, the Prelude FLNG facility will produce at least 5.3 million tons per annum (mtpa) of liquids: 3.6 mtpa of LNG, 1.3 mtpa of condensate (equivalent to 35,000 bbl/d) and 0.4 mtpa of LPG.

The floating facility will chill natural gas produced at the field to –162°C (-260°F), shrinking its volume by 600 times so it can be shipped to customers in other parts of the world. Ocean-going carriers will load the LNG as well as other liquid by-products (condensate and LPG) for delivery to market.

The Prelude FLNG facility is being built at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje Island ship yards in South Korea. The Prelude FLNG facility has been designed to withstand the most powerful tropical cyclones. It will remain permanently moored at the location for around 20-25 years before needing to dock for inspection and overhaul.

The Prelude FLNG Project is well placed to help meet the growing natural gas demand of Asia.

Developing the gas at the location of the gas field will reduce impact on sensitive coastal habitats as FLNG avoids the need for shoreline pipe crossings, dredging and jetty works. Product carriers will be far from coastal reefs or whale migration routes.

Post to be found at:
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Worlds-Largest-Offshore-Facility-Developing-Rapidly-2013-09-25/September 25, 2013 -

Today's reading list

Selected reading for September 25, 2013 - Wordsmith

LNG revenue set to reach $61bn by 2018 The Australian

OIL and gas investment, particularly in liquefied natural gas, is set to play a major part in Australia's prosperity, LNG revenue expected to grow from $12 billion to 

UPDATE 1-Gazprom opposes Rosneft and Exxon Russia LNG plans Reuters

Competition for LNG markets in Russia has heated up this year after Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled an end to Gazprom's monopoly on gas exports.

LNG Leaders Meet in Singapore Control Engineering Asia

Singapore, the country which is emerging as Asia's LNG trading hub, is hosting industry decision makers this week (Sept 24-26) at the 5th World LNG Series: 

100th LNG Carrier to be Fitted with Bestobell MarineLink

Bestobell Valves, part of the President Engineering Group, announced a new contract which brings the total of orders for its innovative patented Float Level 

Gazprom Racing to Sign LNG Contracts Before Competition Arrives Businessweek

OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural gas exporter, plans to sign contracts for at least 80 percent of the liquefied natural gas from its Vladivostok plant by mid-2014 

LNG Trucking with Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) Nanalyze

In a August 2013 report by Goldman Sachs titled “The Search for Creative Destruction“, Goldman lists 8 disruptive technologies to pay attention to in the coming 

Applied Natural Gas Fuels, Inc. to Build LNG Production Platform in ... MarketWatch

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Sep 25, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Applied Natural Gas Fuels, Inc. (ANGF), the second largest producer and marketer of Liquefied 

Lithuania Makes LNG Terminal Priority in Battle for Cheaper Gas Bloomberg

Lithuania's completion of a new liquefied natural-gas terminal is its top priority in a struggle to escape “unfair” pricing by its sole supplier, Russia's OAO Gazprom

Teekay LNG Partners Announces Acquisition and Charter Back of ... MarketWatch

HAMILTON, BERMUDA, Sep 24, 2013 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- Teekay LNG Partners L.P. (Teekay LNG or the Partnership) (NYSE:TGP) today announced 

Japanese firms join eastern Siberian oil, gas exploration projects - KUNA

Posted - September 25, 2013 - Kuwait News Agency

Japan's largest oil explorer Inpex Corporation and major trading house Itochu Corporation said they have jointly participated in exploration projects in two oilfields in eastern Siberia.
The two firms have bought stakes in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the government-affiliated Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), which has been conducting oil and gas exploration works in the Zapadno-Yaraktinsky and Bolshetirsky blocks, both in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast, the two firms said in a press release.
As a result of the acquisition, Inpex now owns 12.4 percent and Itochu 12.6 percent, respectively, of the JOGMEC subsidiary's shares. The subsidiary has a 49 percent stake in the joint venture between its Russian partner of Irkutsk Oil Company, the press release said. The joint venture had been conducting exploration operations in these two blocks, where the oil and gas reserves had already been discovered as a result of exploration activities.
The Zapadno-Yaraktinsky and Bolshetirsky blocks, both onshore, located about 700 kilometers north of Irkutsk city and cover the area of some 4,800 square kilometers and 3,300 square kilometers respectively.

Post to be found at:
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2335564&Language=en

Japanese government to publish benchmark LNG prices - KUNA

Posted - September 24, 2013 - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry will be publishing benchmark prices of short-term contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported from the Middle East and elsewhere, a major business daily here reported Tuesday.
The ministry aims to stimulate price-sensitive short-term trades and place downward pressure on LNG procurement costs, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Japan, the world's largest LNG importer by volume, seeks to create a hub market for international trades of the gas.
Previously, there were no data serving as a yardstick for the prices that electricity and gas companies pay for short-term contracts. Short-term deals account only for around 20 percent of gas contracts in Japan, lower than those in China and South Korea, the newspaper said. The ministry will calculate prices based on its survey of importers and trade statistics, and disclose data later in fiscal 2013 through March. Releases on a quarterly basis are planned starting next fiscal year, according to the paper.
The ministry hopes to use the data as settlement prices on the world's first LNG futures market, which is set to open on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
Japan's bill for LNG has been increasing as utilities have boosted imports of LNG for thermal power generation following the radiation accident in March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Last year, the nation took in a record 87.3 million tons. LNG has been trading at higher prices because it is linked to crude oil prices, which remain high. Furthermore, Asian demand for natural gas is projected to more than double between 2010 and 2035.

Post to be found at:
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2335317&Language=en

Jordan to sign $350 million deal to build gas port in Aqaba - Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Posted -September 25, 2013 - Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Energy minister Mohammad Hamed said yesterday the government will sign a $350 million agreement to construct gas port in Aqaba this week as a step to tackling the kingdom's gas shortage.

The minister said the agreement will be signed this week and the project is expected to take 15 months for completion.

"The port will be up and running by November," the minister was quoted as saying. He said the government has signed an agreement to lease a container ship to store liquid gas as part of the project.

The project includes constructing a docking station for the container ship, and transferring it to be pumped to the Arab pipeline. "The port is considered one of the most important pots in Aqaba because it is part of the strategic structure due to the great need of the kingdom to gas," said the minister.

The project will help meet rising demand in electricity as a result of increased number of Syrian refugees and rising demand on electricity, added the minister.

The government says it has been paying an average of $5 million daily to cover for cost of using heavy fuel to generate electric stations after Egypt gas supply was disrupted two months ago.
Source: ANSAmed

Post to be found at:
http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/News.aspx?ElementId=849cc584-f2a6-47ec-bb49-39395b039cac&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily

Reading for September 24, 2013 - Wordsmith

Selected Posts for reading September 24, 2013 - Wordsmith

LNG Capital Expenditure MarineLink

As the lead author of the 'The World LNG Market Forecast 2013-2017', Michelle has drawn on her project experience covering the international gas markets and 

India Poised to Get LNG Spot Cargo From Nigeria at Dahej Port Bloomberg

India, Asia's fourth-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, is set to receive a spot cargo from Nigeria, ship-tracking data show. The Iberica Knutsen, with a capacity 

BC's LNG stance in stark contrast to oilsands Vancouver Sun

Re: Premier Clark hits the road to beat the drum for LNG, Sept. 16 By championing the development and export to Asia of the province's world-class natural gas 

Ice LNG cargo comes under Bureau Veritas spotlight The Motorship

Bureau Veritas says it has responded to demand for safe LNG transportation in the Arctic regions by developing new tools to assess cargo sloshing in ice