Natural Gas NEWS

Paris: Gas power plants overtook lignite coal plants in 2020 to become the European Union's largest single source of emissions from electricity, an analysis of the bloc's Emissions Trading Scheme showed Friday.Gas plants produced 231 million tonnes of carbon dioxide across the continent in 2020 according to the analysis conducted by energy think tank Ember.

NEW DELHI: Amid record-high fuel prices, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said there is no proposal as of now to bring crude oil, petrol, diesel, jet fuel (ATF) and natural gas under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).This meant that the central government continued to levy excise duty on them while state governments charged VAT. These taxes, with excise duty, in particular, have been raised periodically.

India’s petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said that there is an increased push for adopting “hydrogen fuel mix."This comes in the backdrop of India’s National Hydrogen Energy Mission in the works, which may mandate fertilizer, steel and petrochemicals industries to shift to green hydrogen use.

Turkey’s state-owned oil and gas company is considering partnerships and plans to raise funding this year to carry out work on biggest natural gas discovery in the Black Sea. The necessary capital investment to produce the gas and deliver it onshore is estimated at around $3.2 billion. TPAO was allocated 13.4 billion liras ($1.9 billion) from the government’s 2021 budget.

As much as 40% of the natural gas that’s expected to be flared in the Permian Basin in 2025 could be avoided at no cost to drillers if regulators abandoned their hands-off approach to the controversial practice. Flaring, which plunged in 2020 as the pandemic forced shale producers to curtail output, is set to rebound as oil prices recover.

Baker Hughes Co. expects as many as four liquefied natural gas projects globally to move to a final investment decision this year amid a global revival of the fuel after last year's pandemic-induced collapse. By 2030, we still need to have capacity of approximately 650 to 700 million tons of LNG in place," CEO Lorenzo Simonelli told analysts and investors.

China has launched 1,100 km section of China-Russia East gas pipeline. Operations have already started in the middle portion of the pipeline. This will facilitate smog-prone Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in northern China with the natural gas from the Power of Siberia system. The line is expected to be complete by 2025 and could transport 38 bcm per annum of gas.

Gujarat State Petronet Ltd has decided to raise its gas transmission by about a quarter from the next Fiscal year. The Mehsana-Bhatinda pipeline which will be completed by March is the key factor for the decision. Joint MD of GSPL Mr.Sanjeev Kumar added, "The initial capacity utilization of the Mehsana-Bathinda pipeline will be 9 to 10 mmscmd, which will be scaled up as new gas import terminals come up in the state,"

Hungary inks a deal to buy 250 million cubic metres of liquefied natural gas per year from Royal Dutch Shell for six years. It’s Hungary’s first long-term deal with a western company. It will secure 10% of it’s supply from the west. Before, Hungry has relied mostly on Russian gas and has never had a long-term supply agreement with any supplier other than Russia’s Gazprom.

India will on Monday get its very own natural gas trading platform that will help discover local market price for gas through transparent demand-supply matching. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will launch the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) to kickstart natural gas trading, official sources said. IGX is India's first automated national level trading platform to promote and sustain an efficient and robust gas market and foster gas trading in the country.

Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey has called on the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to open an investigation into the future of the natural gas industry as Massachusetts transitions away from fossil fuels and toward a clean renewable energy future by 2050. Massachusetts could become the third state to launch a regulatory proceeding to proactively manage the state’s transition away from natural gas.

Struck by weak demand and depleting storage facilities, the world’s biggest exporter of LNG may soon have to: curb output or ignite a battle for market share that has the potential. Qatar began redirecting LNG cargoes away from Asia in February, where the coronavirus was shattering sales, and sending them to Europe. That quick fix didn’t last, as the pandemic left Qatar struggling for places to park unsold cargoes.

India's oil major, ONGC, wants marketing and pricing freedom along with the tax cuts. The company wrote an SOS to the government seeking help amidst the crashing prices and slumping market. It has become a challenge to continue with sustaining operations. And if the conditions persist, ONGC might have to cut down on investments. Last month also the state-owned company wrote to the government regarding the abolition of oil cess.

The second-largest US oil company, Chevron expects $10 billion-$11 billion charge in the fourth quarter. Following this, the company is also planning to sell some of its natural gas projects to prepare for long term low prices. "With capital discipline and a conservative outlook comes the responsibility to make the tough choices necessary to deliver higher cash returns to our shareholders over the long term", said the Chief Executive.

Global carbon emission has hit record levels in 2019 because of the increased use of natural gas. According to the analysis of the Global Carbon Project, CO2 emissions were on a course to rise 0.6% this year. This increase has been recorded even after a substantial decline in the use of coal. "Natural gas is now the biggest contributor to the growth in emissions", says the Carbon Budget report.

Shanghai Futures Exchange has informed that China will launch low-sulphur fuel oil futures in the first quarter of 2020. This would be China's second bonded oil futures contract. The first contract was in March 2018 on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE), a ShFE subsidiary. Apart from this, ShFE will actively promote the launch of alumina future also.

Poland's, PGNiG has decided not to renew the major contract with Russia's Gazprom after it ends in 2022. The company has already notified Gazprom about its "intent to terminate" the contract. This Yamal contract was started in 1996. Currently, two-third of the gas consumed in the nation is delivered by Russia under Yamal. Poland has been long wanting to seize its dependency on Russian gas.

Woodside will delay the final approval date for its mega Browse gas project. Also, the company has decided to bring in the plans to sign off on its smaller Scarborough project. Woodside is focusing on the final investment decision on the $20.5 billion Browse project in the first half of 2021. In early 2020, it will sign off on the $11 billion Scarborough gas project and Pluto LNG expansion.