Natural Gas Daily: November 18th, 2020

VIETNAM HAILS START-UP OF OFFSHORE GAS FIELD

 Vietnam has begun flowing gas from the Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet field off its southern coast, state-owned PetroVietnam Gas Corp said on November 16.

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• At plateau the field is expected to produce 1.5bn m3 of gas and 2.8mn barrels of oil and condensate annually, which is 15% of Vietnam's total output last year.

• Vietnam has recently a raft of LNG import projects and new gas-fired power plants, as it looks to bolster the role of gas in its energy mix.

CHINA'S GAS OUTPUT UP 12% IN OCT

China’s natural gas production reached 16.3bn m3 in October, up 11.9% yr/yr, data published on November 16 by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

• China’s natural gas imports via pipeline and in the form of LNG in October were up 15.5% yr/yr at 7.53mn metric tons, according to customs department data published November 7.

UK GREEN RECOVERY PLAN BOOSTS CCS (UPDATE)

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has repeated plans to fund carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen, nuclear power, electric vehicles and renewable energy in a strategy to create jobs and reduce carbon. They have been broadly welcomed by industries looking forward to financing, but a long-awaited government policy paper is also needed, says Cornwall Insights.

• There is so far no clarity on which CCS projects will receive funding, but Storegga, which is working on one in Scotland called Acorn, is hopeful. It told NGW: “Acorn has entered front-end engineering design and is presently the most advanced of the UK’s CCS projects, with first C02 storage operation planned in 2024. It is also the most scalable and is cost competitive.” 

SURINAME LAUNCHES OFFSHORE ROUND

Suriname's state oil company Staatsolie is offering eight shallow-water blocks on November 16 off its coast in a bidding round, it said on November 16. 

• The acreage is situated south of recent deepwater discoveries made at block 58, and north-west of Suriname's onshore producing fields.

• France's Total and US Apache made their second major discovery at block 58  in September.

IRISH KINSALE DECOMMISSIONING BEGINS

Decommissioning of the Kinsale gas fields off Ireland's south coast has begun, AGR, the Norwegian company tasked with the work, said on November 16.

• The Kinsale fields, operated by Malaysia's Petronas, ceased production in July after 42 years. The fields in the Celtic Sea were formerly Ireland's only source of domestic production until the launch of the Corrib field in 2015.

IMO TAKES FURTHER STEPS TO CUT SHIPPING EMISSIONS

The UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has approved steps to increase energy efficiency in vessels, as part of short-term measures to reduce the sector's carbon intensity, it said on November 17.

• The IMO took the shipping industry by surprise with its early adoption of a lower sulphur cap for shipping, a decision that has been credited with some of the decisions to build vessels that run on LNG.