PETRONAS has brought a new Virtual Pipeline System (VPS) solution to the market through its Regasification Terminal (RGT) in Pengerang, P&GJ reports. The VPS will deliver Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to off-grid customers with the aid of cryogenic tanks. This solution will help PETRONAS to reach industrial operators in Peninsular Malaysia that have not been connected to existing the natural gas infrastructure. The new arrangement will provide them with the option to switch to an alternative form of cleaner energy. PETRONAS is piloting the implementation of the solution by delivering its first order of LNG to its client, the Continental Tyre Alor Setar Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s earlier this month.   The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) is appointing a new President and Chief Executive Officer in Amy Andryszak. She will be taking over from the present president current Interim President and CEO Alex Oehler. Until her current appointment, she has worked as Principal at Ogilvy Government Relations, where she manages a portfolio of projects across sectors ranging from policy areas to energy, travel and tourism, telecommunications, and financial services. She has spent a good part of her career growing and nurturing bipartisan relationships in the US legislature and with key regulatory agencies. Experts say she will be very instrumental to advocating on behalf of INGAA and INGAA member-companies. Her key responsibility on the assumption of office is the “reauthorizing the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act recently passed the U.S. Senate and awaits consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives”, P&GJ reports.    

The Nigeria Government through its national oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has dismissed mounting criticism of the recently increased fuel prices. The Group Marketing Director of the NNPC while admitting the hardship the recent increase portends for the people however posits that many of those criticizing the recent increase are doing so because they are ignorant of the opportunities that the recent increase comes with. He admitted that the issue of subsidy has been such a huge matter of national discuss and that the government is no longer able to bear the burden of subsidizing petroleum products anymore. The Group Marketing Director insisted that the main beneficiaries of the subsidy has been the elites who own and use several vehicles and not the poor masses who rely on public transportation.   Total Egypt and OLA Energy Egypt recently announced they are in agreement to “jointly own, build, and operate a new petroleum products terminal in Alexandria” Energy Egypt reports. The Terminal will be set up in the Mex Petroleum Zone on a 23,000 square meter plot of land and will have an initial storage capacity of 10,000 cubic metres. The facility will facilitate supply to customers and service stations of both companies in Alexandria, as well as in the North Coast and North Delta regions. Experts say the terminal at Alexandra is a strategic in securing consistent and reliable supply for OLA Energy Egypt which will enable it to serve the company’s network of retail stations all across Alexandria, the North Coast and the North Delta. The deregulation of the downstream sector of the Nigerian Oil and gas industry is gaining support and the node of key players in the market. This support and confidence was recently been expressed by the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), about the expected outcomes of the N250 billion National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) intervention fund launched by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The fund was set up by the the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to help stimulate investment in the gas value chain. The Chairman of NGEP says the introduction and expansion of gas into Nigeria’s energy mix will help to reduce the impact of deregulation and attract new investments. In a related development, the Autogas and Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) sub-committee was also put in place to promote the adoption of autogas/NGVs as an alternative fuel in Nigeria and key into the global shift from crude oil to gas.        

 

 

Reuters on Tuesday reported that work has commenced on the southern portion of the China-Russia East natural gas pipeline. The purpose of the project is to enable the carrying of supplies from the Power of Siberia system in Russia. China Oil & Gas Piping Network Corp (PipeChina) will start work from Yongqing in China's northern province of Hebei and end construction at Shanghai in eastern China. When completed, the full China-Russia East system will be a 5,111-km (3,176-mile) pipeline pumping natural gas from the Siberia region in Russia to China. The project is planned for launch in 2025 when the southern part of the pipeline is expected to transmit 18.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas to the Yangtze River delta region each year, the company stated.  

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) announced a U.S$1 million worth of technical and financial sponsorship commitment US-based Payne Institute for Public Policy (PIPP) at Colorado School of Mines, to develop a transparent web platform to support real-time mapping and tracking of global gas flaring data. The initiative is been developed under the World Bank-led organization umbrella, Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR). The programme will make publicly available, flaring volume data with an improvement in monitoring, visibility and transparency by 2022. The funding partnership is part of the OGCI’s vision of ensuring Zero Routine Flaring by 2030.

P&GJ recently reported that U.S. natural gas consumption continued to rise through the pandemic days of April 2020 with a year-over-year increase even when total energy demand fell to a 30-year, as shown in a recent government statistics. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest publication of the Monthly Energy Review, states that the United States consumed 6.5 quadrillion British thermal units of energy in April 2020, the lowest monthly energy consumption since September 1989. Compared to April 2019, Energy consumption in April 2020 was 14% lower, representing the largest year-over-year decrease in EIA’s monthly total energy consumption, a data series that dates back to 1973.         Chevron is expanding in the “prolific Eastern Med” stake with a plan to acquire $5bn stake in Noble Energy. The highlight of the deal is a 40% operator’s stake in the region’s largest gas field, Israel’s 23tcf Leviathan. Just six months after dipping its toe into the East Mediterranean with its first Egypt block, US major Chevron has dived straight in with its $5bn takeover of compatriot Noble Energy.       Pertamina plans to acquire energy assets in Africa and the Middle East owned by Occidental Petroleum. Pertamina is currently in discussion on acquiring oil and gas stakes in countries including Ghana and the United Arab Emirates, according to the people. Pertamina is considering a purchase price of about $4.5 billion for the assets. The Indonesian company has also expressed interest in buying some assets from Occidental in Algeria and Oman, though they may not be included in an initial deal, the people said.       Bloomberg reports that Total plans to write down $8.1 billion after the push to curb carbon emissions and the coronavirus pandemic challenged assumptions about the long-term viability of some oil and gas assets. A major part of the planned write-down relate to about $7 billion that applies to Canadian oil sands, which are costlier and more carbon intensive than conventional fields. “Beyond 2030, given technological developments, particularly in the transportation sector, Total anticipates oil demand will have reached its peak and Brent prices should tend toward the long-term price of $50 a barrel,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.