Daily Digest: February 11th, 2020

Global carbon emissions were flat last year at 33 gigatons, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported, defying forecasts of a third year of increase in line with a 2.9% growth in the world economy. 

European energy utilities' industry group Eurogas urged the European parliament to vote for the Projects of Common Interest (PCI), as it says they are essential "to complete the gas networks in central, east and southeast Europe and to support the diversification of supply sources to the EU."

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US LNG developer NextDecade said February 10 it had received US Department of Energy (DoE) authorisations to export up to 1,318bn ft3/yr of natural gas as LNG from its planned Rio Grande LNG project in Texas to countries without a free-trade agreement (non-FTA) with the US.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, projects natural gas commodity prices will remain weak through the next two months, while dry gas production will soften through the balance of the year.

Canadian producer Seven Generations Energy (7Gen) said February 10 it had entered into a responsible natural gas supply arrangement with Quebec distributor Energir governed by the EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development.

Woodside said it would recognise a non-cash impairment of $720mn (after tax) in relation to the Kitimat assets in western Canada for the full-year ending December 31 2019. The results will be released on February 13. 

Wood MacKenzie expects the coronavirus outbreak to shave 6-14bn m3 off Chinese gas consumption this year, the UK consultancy said in a research note.

Australian LNG exports to China in January have not been affected due to the outbreak of coronavirus, energy consultancy, EnergyQuest, said in a report.

 The Tarim oil field, one of China’s biggest upstream projects, increased its gas output this year, state-run CNPC said in a statement.

India’s biggest LNG importer, Petronet LNG, February 10 reported its highest ever quarterly net profit in Q3 2020 thanks to a higher volume of LNG processed.

Germany will need significant amounts of additional firm power output by 2030 to offset the fluctuating feed-in of renewable energy, according to Cologne University’s Institute of Energy Economics (EWI). 

Ukrainian gas production slipped in 2019, data published by state-owned Naftogaz last week shows, dealing a blow to the country’s ambition of becoming energy self-sufficient.

Uzbekistan plans to complete its $3.6bn Oltin Yol gas-to-liquid plant (GTL) by end-2020, the energy ministry said. The plant will convert 3.6bn m3/yr gas into 37,000 b/d of synthetic fuel.

UK Petrofac has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with MODS to use its 'Virtual Manager Enterprise’ (VME) technology within the UK continental shelf as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

Equinor and its partners have managed to raise gas production considerably at the Fram field in the North Sea, the Norwegian producer said after recently launching a new gas module at the Troll C platform.

Poland’s PGNiG has continued its acquisition drive off Norway, signing a deal to buy field interests from local player Aker BP.

Bulgaria’s largest gas consumer Toplofikatsiya Sofia, the heating utility for the country’s capital, has registered to use Balkan Gas Hub, the trading platform’s operator Bulgartransgaz said in a statement on February 7.

Australian Beach Energy's underlying net profit, which excludes the impact of one-off items, for H1 2020 was down year on year, the company said.

UGL, a unit of Australian engineering firm Cimic, has secured contracts worth A$450mn (US$302mn) to provide maintenance, turnarounds and project services in the oil and gas sector, Cimic said.

Nigeria has introduced new regulations for gas transportation, aimed at expanding the fuel’s use and incentivising private investment in pipelines, petroleum minister Timipre Sylva said at an industry summit in Abuja on February 10, according to Reuters.