Natural Gas NEWS

GAIL awarded a pipe laying contract worth Rs 270 crore to IL&FS last year but is planning to terminate that contract. This is because the financially-troubled contractor is delaying the project. According to the source “Due to its financial crisis, IL&FS is unable to pay its subcontractors and suppliers. So, these sub-contractors have stopped working and vendors have stopped supplies.” This 2,655 km pipeline is called Pradhan Mnatri Urja Ganga.

On Wednesday, OMV announced that it has signed a concession agreement with ADNOC. After this agreement, the Austrian oil and gas group will get 5% stakes in the Ghasha offshore gas and condensate fields which in turn will increase its prominence in the region. The Ghasha project of ADNOC includes three major development plans- Hail, Ghasha and Dalma.

BP Trinidad and Tobago has approved two new gas development offshore projects, Cassia Compression and Matapal. The Cassia project will enhance recovery from its existing resources, enabling BPTT to produce low pressure gas reserves. With the help of Matapal project, BPTT will develop gas resources discovered in 2017. Both these projects will help BPTT to stay true to its supply commitments to Trinidad’s National Gas Company and Atlantic LNG.

US’ second-largest oil producer, Chevron Corp has increased its oil and gas project budget for the first time in four years. The energy major will be spending $20 billion in 2019. The areas of investment will include shale production, and refining and chemicals. According to the information, $3.6 billion will be spent in the Permian Basin and New Mexico and $1.6 billion for other shale regions.

Indonesian Merakes project of Eni will start production of natural gas in 2021, informed country’s deputy energy minister. This offshore project is expected to produce 155 mmcfd of natural gas per day initially which might rise to 391 mmcfd. According to the latest revision, Eni and its partner Pertamina will take 67% of crude oil and 72% of natural gas production and the rest will go to the Indonesian government.

According to sources, Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating LNG unit is expected to start at the end of the year. The natural gas produced offshore northern Australia will be processed here and exported as LNG. Prelude’s capacity of annual LNG production is assumed to be 3.6 million tonnes. Apart from LNG, it will also process 1.3 million tonnes a year of condensate and 400,000 tonnes a year of LPG.

The coal bed methane (CBM) block of India’s Reliance Industries suffered from under production due to operational issues and poor pipeline connectivity. The company’s CBM block of Madhya Pradesh had production shrink of 0.94 mmscmd in July-September from 1 mmscmd in April-June. RIL’s KG-D6 block is also depleting including Focus Energy’s Rajasthan block. Meanwhile, the monthly report of oil ministry states decrement in natural gas output of India by 1%.

The CEOs of Saudi Aramco and ADNOC have signed a strategic framework agreement on Monday for creating opportunities of cooperation in natural gas and LNG sector. Under this, both the companies will function together to assess investment opportunities in these sectors, and exchange knowledge in the growth markets. ADNOC’s CEO said “Increased cooperation between ADNOC and Saudi Aramco will ensure greater energy security and long-term economic prosperity for both nations,”

On Tuesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) informed that by 2030, natural gas might become the second largest energy source overtaking coal. The reasons behind this huge change would be an urge to bring down the air pollution and rise in the use of LNG. The organization also mentioned in its World Energy Outlook 2018 that the energy demand will jump more than a quarter between 2017 and 2040.

According to the source, SOCAR Turkey, the state oil company of Azerbaijan, is planning an acquisition in natural gas distribution in 2019. For this, the company has made an offer to EWE, the German energy company. Feasibility assessment has been completed by SOCAR in order to invest in the second petrochemical facility, informed the Chief External Affairs Officer, Murat LeCompte.

India’s biggest city gas retailer, Indraprastha gas Limited (IGL) is planning to set-up over 60 CNG stations across the country. IGL MD said that the firm has adopted a dealer-franchise model to rapidly expand the network. IGL currently runs 452 CNG stations in different cities of India. The government is insistent on increasing the stakes of natural gas in the country's energy basket to 15%.

The newly established government of Pakistan yesterday elevated natural gas prices by 20%. Regarding it as a tough decision, Petroleum Minister Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar stated that the decision will enable Pakistan to bridge a 152 billion rupee deficit for the two main suppliers - Sui Northern and Sui Southern. The minister held the previous government of now-jailed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accountable for the huge deficit.

After Vedanta announced its discovery of natural gas block in Krishna Godavari basin, the shares of the natural resource giant of the nation increased by 4% on Friday. There was a 4.3% hike in stock which went on to hit a high of Rs 233.40 on the BSE. Vedanta informed about the discovery of gas in its KG-OSN-2009-3 block in which it has 100% participatory interest.

India's natural resources giant, Vedanta Ltd., announced a gas discovery in its block KG-OSN-2009-3, in the Krishna Godavari basin. Vedanta said that the authorities, oil ministry and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, have been provided all the information regarding this discovery. The company has 100% participatory interest on the block. Earlier this month, ONGC also informed about its discoveries in MP and West Bengal.

After BP, oil giant ExxonMobil has now entered into an agreement with the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. for the Alaska North Slope natural gas sale. The sale will be to a state-sanctioned corporation who wants to build a LNG project worth $34 billion, including 800-mile pipeline. Currently, Alaska Gasline is negotiating with ConocoPhillips for the same. These three oil majors are intended to be a part of this project.

Total signed an agreement with Iran in 2017 for the development of phase II of the South Pars natural gas field. But Total decided to leave the project midway after not being able to obtain waiver from restored US sanctions. Oil Minister of Iran commented that the money invested by Total will be reimbursed only after the phase II of the multibillion-dollar project will become functional.

CEO of Poland’s gas company, PGNiG, informed that the company will spend over $2 billion on distribution network by 2022. The decision of shareholders to invest in dividends has influenced this plan of expansion, he said. The company has decided to invest half of the profits of 2017 on dividends. PGNiG in the recent quarter reported a 41% hike in its net profit compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

Gazprom, gas giant of Russia announced its Q2 report. The company’s profit surged and jumped to $3.8 billion. The numbers of the company beat all the expectations of the analysts. Gazprom gained profits from the increasing fuel prices. The shares of gas major increased by 1.1%. Gazprom has shipped over 101 billion cubic meters of natural gas to EU and accounted for 34% share in the gas market of Europe.