Weekly news roundup (2-6 October)

International

Volvo Trucks is introducing a line of heavy-duty trucks fuelled with LNG or biogas to reduce emissions across its European operations.

Gazprom is pushing to encourage take-up of natural gas vehicles across Russia and further afield by subsidising production of gas-fuelled automobiles.

Norway’s Statoil has become the latest NOC to enter the utility-scale solar sector by snapping up a 40% stake in the "construction ready" 162MW Apodi solar plant in north-east Brazil – in the same week the International Energy Agency predicted record PV growth globally out to 2022.

Pakistan could be the fastest growing LNG market ever, with the South Asian nation set for a five-fold increase in LNG imports by 2025 – a striking development considering it only joined the LNG importers’ club in 2015, Adnan Gilani, chief operating officer of Pakistan LNG, tells Gas Strategies.

Gazprom has penned MoUs with Thailand’s PTT for “potential collaboration” in international E&P, and with Saudi Aramco to work together in areas including “drilling and well workover” and development of “large-scale non-metal pipes”.

US & Canada

Canada – Alton Gas Natural Storage, subsidiary of Calgary-based Landis Energy Corp, has been ordered to fork out CAD 75,000 (USD 60,000) in court costs to the Mi’kmaq First Nation in Nova Scotia province.

Calgary-based Sterling Resources has received “third party interest” and is in preliminary discussions regarding a “potential reverse take‐over”.

Petronas subsidiary Progress Energy has enlisted BMO Capital Markets to offload upstream assets in Alberta, months after the Malaysian state-owned company made assurances that it remained “committed” to the country despite cancelling an LNG export project in British Columbia.

US – New regulations that would favour coal and nuclear power stations over those fuelled with natural gas have been proposed by US energy secretary Rick Perry in a move that could eventually lead to one of the most significant reforms to electricity markets in decades.

A coalition of energy trade associations has attacked the “aggressive timeframe” for implementing US energy secretary Rick Perry’s controversial proposals to boost resilience in the US electricity system.

LNG developer Tellurian has chartered a carrier vessel for a six-month period from Maran Gas Maritime, as part of the company’s efforts to build LNG marketing capabilities before launching its Driftwood plant in 2022.

Anadarko has reshuffled its management team, including executive level positions in International & Deepwater Operations, US Onshore Operations and Exploration.

Africa

Equatorial Guinea – Ophir Energy has awarded an upstream construction contract for the Fortuna FLNG project to Subsea Integration Alliance, a partnership between Subsea 7 and Schlumberger subsidiary OneSubsea.

Asia Pacific

India – Schlumberger has won an EPC contract from Reliance Industries to supply the subsea production system for the Indian company’s R-Cluster project, off the east coast of India.

Japan – GE Power has fired up six gas turbines at Chubu Electric Power’s revamped 1.1 GW Nishi-Nagoya CCGT plant that will run on LNG.

Japan’s nuclear watchdog has given TEPCO initial approval to bring two reactors online at Japan’s largest nuclear power station, which could begin to ease the country’s demand for LNG imports, however a restart could still be years away.

Pakistan – Siemens is to supply a 1.3 GW LNG-fuelled “power island” to a state-backed project in power-starved Pakistan.

Thailand – Shell will hang onto its share of Thailand’s strategically-significant Bongkot gas field after a USD 900-million deal with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum fell through, due to an overly-long negotiating process with the Thai government.

Australasia

Australia – E&P player Armour Energy has commenced commercial sales from the recommissioned Kincora project in Queensland, with gas to go to the APLNG export project and the domestic market, helping ease concerns of a supply shortfall on the east coast.

Chevron and Woodside Energy have expanded their assets base offshore Western Australia after entering into an equal partnership to explore three new blocks, while BP has been given a deadline extension to participate in Cue Energy’s exploration licence in the same region.

LNG Limited has suspended plans to redomicile in the US, and will reexamine the move “at an optimal time for the company and its shareholders”.

Europe

Cyprus, Republic of – Cyprus is gearing up to issue tenders early next year for installation of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and LNG supply for the island.

Denmark – Renewables-focussed energy company DONG Energy will change its name to Ørsted, in honour of 19th-century scientist Hans Christian Ørsted.

Finland – Technology group Wartsila has been awarded a turnkey contract with Hamina LNG Oy to supply an LNG import terminal in Hamina on the south coast of Finland.

France – Creditors of debt-ridden seismic firm CGG have accepted the company's restructuring proposals in a Chapter 11 vote.

Italy – Saffron Energy has signed a non-binding heads of agreement to acquire Sound Energy and Po Valley Energy’s assets in Italy.

Malta – Malta’s energy department has signed a letter of intent to reaffirm a commitment towards building a gas pipeline to Sicily.

Norway – Shell and Total are teaming up with Statoil to develop a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) site on the Norwegian continental shelf to store captured CO2 from some of the country’s largest industrial sites.

Sweden – Finnish corporation Wartsila has reached an USD 34 million agreement to acquire Swedish biogas outfit Puregas Solutions in a move to expand its position in biogas liquefaction.

UK – Independent Oil and Gas is progressing with its plan to develop a gas hub in the southern North Sea after signing a letter of intent with Heerema Fabrication Group for four platforms.

Scotland’s government has effectively banned fracking, after deciding not to support the development of shale hydrocarbons, two years after a moratorium was put in place against the drilling technique.

Latin America & Caribbean

Argentina – The South American country is reportedly planning an offshore exploration tender next year aimed at emulating the offshore success of neighbour Brazil.

Guyana – ExxonMobil has made its fifth offshore oil discovery, following separate discoveries in the Liza, Payara, Snoek and Liza Deep plays.

Mexico – Pemex has farmed out two onshore fields to Germany’s Dea and Egypt’s Cheiron. The Egyptian company agreed to pay USD 166.5 million and royalties of 13% for a 50% stake in the Cardenas-Mora block.

Peru – The South American state’s first small-scale LNG plant is nearing completion in Piura, on the country’s northern coast, where it will serve as a virtual pipeline to cater for the increasing gas demand from the remote areas of the country.

Russia & CIS

Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan is set make its maiden exports to China this month after state-backed KazTransGas concluded a USD 1 billion deal to sell PetroChina 5 Bcm of gas over the course of a year.

Markets & prices

Brent crude futures rallied sharply in late September, momentarily touching levels unseen since the summer of 2015, but the opposite has happened at the far end of the curve.

LNG futures last week hit a seven-month high and the curve suggests upward momentum will continue building throughout this winter thanks to a combination of rising demand in Asia and Europe and news that some Australian exports could be curtailed.

Contracts for global oil and US NGLs have risen as markets react to OPEC discussing a steeper production cut and potential effects from another tropical storm hitting the Gulf of Mexico.