Natural Gas Daily: December 16th, 2020

OZ LNG EXPORTS TO HIT RECORD IN 2020: ENERGYQUEST

Australian LNG exports this year are expected to reach record 78mn metric tons, up from 77.5mn mt in 2019, energy consultancy EnergyQuest said in a report.

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• This was despite supply disruptions from Gorgon, Australia’s second-largest project, and delays to the start-up of the Prelude floating LNG project, EnergyQuest said. “One of the reasons for the strong performance was record production from the east coast LNG projects at Gladstone.

• Gladstone has three projects: the ConocoPhillips-Origin Energy Australia Pacific LNG, Shell’s Queensland Curtis LNG, and the Santos-led Gladstone LNG. 

BRUSSELS MULLS EXCLUDING GAS FROM PCI LIST

The European Commission (EC) has proposed excluding oil and natural gas infrastructure from its list of projects of common interest (PCIs) that enjoy EU financial and regulatory support, it reported on December 15.

• The current PCI list includes some five LNG import terminals, gas storage facilities and a number of major pipeline projects, including the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline in southern Europe, the EastMed pipeline that would link Israel with Greece and the Baltic Pipe that will pump Norwegian gas to Poland.

• But the EC's latest proposals for inclusions in October were mostly focused on electricity and CO2 transport and featured only one gas project: a pipeline linking Bulgaria with Serbia.

SINOPEC CLEARED TO INVEST IN RUSSIAN GAS CHEMICALS VENTURE

Chinese state oil company Sinopec has secured the approval of Russia's special committee on foreign investment to acquire a 40% interest in a planned gas chemicals complex in the Russian Far East, the Russian government said on December 15.

• Its feedstock will be some 3.5mn mt/yr of ethane and LPG feedstock supplied from Gazprom's Amur gas processing plant, due to begin treating Russian gas on route to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline in 2023.

CHINESE GAS OUTPUT UP 12% IN NOV

China’s natural gas production reached 16.9bn m3 in November, up 11.8% yr/yr, data published on December 15 by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

• Gas production in China has increased at a relatively fast rate since 2016. The growth in output is well up on the sluggish increases in the first half of the 2010s, but still well below the increase in gas consumption.

SHELL CANADA NAMES NEW COUNTRY CHAIR

Susannah Pierce, director of corporate affairs at the Anglo-Dutch Shell-led LNG Canada project, has been named president and country chair of Shell Canada, the company announced. She will replace Michael Crothers – who has been with Shell for 33 years – on his retirement in 2021.

• Pierce joined LNG Canada in 2013 as a secondee from Shell Canada, and has been responsible for the project’s federal and provincial regulatory approvals, indigenous relations and negotiations, government and media relations and community consultation and communications. 

VITOL SNAPS UP 3.3 GW OF UK GAS POWER

Global commodities trader Vitol has struck a deal to acquire four combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants in the UK with a combined capacity of 3.3 GW from Drax Smart Generation, it said on December 15.

• "VPI is committed to being part of the UK's pathway to Net Zero. For the foreseeable future, renewables will need to be complemented by highly efficient gas generation," VPI manager David Brignall said.