Daily Digest: February 13th, 2020

Australia’s Woodside reported a 75% drop in 2019 net profit owing to non-cash impairment of $720mn (after tax) in relation to the Kitimat assets in western Canada.

Sydney-listed Comet Ridge said Mahalo North planning is complete and work is set to start in Q2 2020 following the award of tenure.

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Australian energy retailer AGL Energy reported a 20% yr/yr drop in underlying net profit for the six months to December 31 (H1 2020) primarily due to the outage of unit 2 at AGL Loy Yang power station and reduced gas volumes.

Romanian gas production was down 2.5% year on year in 2019, data published by the country's national statistics office on February 12 showed. Imports soared 76.8%, arriving at 2.117mn toe.

The Montenegrin port of Bar is considering building an LNG terminal to import gas from the US, its director Vladan Vucelic said in an interview with local newspaper Dnevne Novine on February 12, shared on the port's website.

Greece has given bidders an extra week to file expressions of interest (EoIs) in the sale of the distribution network of state gas utility Depa, its privatisation agency Taiped said in a statement on February 12.

Lithuania has broken ground on a gas link with Poland, its transmission system operator (TSO) Amber Grid said in a statement on February 12. GIPL, an EU project of common interest, will be the first direct gas link between Poland and Lithuania, connecting the Baltic and Finnish grids with the rest of the European system.

The UK regulatory price cap and falling gas prices hit Centrica’s profits in 2019, but the UK’s largest utility managed to reverse the decline in customer accounts and made cost efficiencies above those it aimed for.

Dutch company Stercore has secured the country's first licence to manufacture methane from manure and will build a plant in Emmen. It had assistance from a number of backers including GasTerra, the Dutch gas marketer. GasTerra told NGW in an emailed comment that the project "fits well in our energy transition program, specifically our strategic goal to stimulate the production of bio methane (green gas).

US companies are keen to expand Portugal's deepwater port of Sines because of its strategic position as an entry point for US LNG into Europe, Washington's energy secretary Dan Brouillette said on February 12, according to Reuters.

Occidental has joined the World Bank's 'Zero Routine Flaring by 2030' initiative, it said February 12, the first US oil and gas producer to do so. The aim is two-fold: make use of a valuable energy resource and, in the process, reduce emissions.

Canada-listed Jura Energy has started commercial production from the Ayesha, Aminah and Ayesha North leases in the Badin IV South block in Pakistan, it said. 

Canadian gas pipeline developer TC Energy said it has sanctioned $1.3bn (US$980mn) worth of expansion projects aimed at enhancing access to domestic and export markets.