New Delhi: Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that India will turn into as a major green hydrogen hub and exporter by 2040, catering to both domestic and global demand.

Speaking at the CII Annual Session 2023, the minister said that the energy demand in the country would continue to grow at a rapid pace for the next 20 years, and energy demand in India would account for 25% of the global demand growth during the period. 

He also said that along with the growth in cleaner fuels, the exploration and production of oil and gas in the country also would go up “exponentially”.

Citing the recent decision of OPEC and its allies, commonly known as OPEC+, to go ahead with additional production cuts, the minister said that although there were concerns that the move would cause a surge in global crude prices, it did not happen as several member countries of OPEC did not go ahead with the committed production cuts to avoid revenue losses.

“India’s energy sector is today witnessing a trilemma in terms of lack of availability, affordability and sustainability, and it is imperative to find out solutions to address these issues,” he said. 

He was of the view that due to India’s size and complexity, India cannot afford even a marginal disruption in supply availability. Further, it is essential to prioritize affordability as there is no point in having accessibility without affordability, he added. The third essential focus area is sustainability,, Puri said.

Elaborating on the need for availability and affordability of energy supply, Puri said: “In India you can’t afford to suddenly raise prices.” He added that although India is following market principles with regards to setting the price, it continues to need some form of administered price mechanism.

The minister said it is essential to prioritize affordability as there is no point in having accessibility without affordability.

Further, in terms of energy innovation, the minister stated that India has already significantly reduced the cost per unit of solar power, however, further success will come from the use of green hydrogen or the fuel of the future. 

He said that through the national green hydrogen mission, the government has already established an ecosystem for green hydrogen that is conducive to success.

https://www.livemint.com/industry/energy/india-to-become-major-exporter-of-green-hydrogen-by-2040-puri-11684943495316.html

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Speaking at the Confederation of India’s (CII) southern regional conference in Chennai, he said the country has been advocating  inclusive resilient growth when one-third of the world is facing recession, while developed countries wanted to discuss war-related issues, like food, fuel, and fertilisers. “We will do everything possible…  despite the challenges and the global tension, we played a key role in Bali and will continue to do a key role for bringing all countries together. We are ambitious about the developmental issues and has been inclusive all along,” he said.

Asked about whether there are still any issues that have to be ironed out, Kant said only 50% of work has been done and the remaining half will be completed in another three month. In September, the stakeholders are converging in Delhi. “Many of the issues are being discussed in the third and fourth round. We are happy with the progress achieved so far on all the issues in the agenda,”he said.

Highlighting the importance of green hydrogen, Kant said India currently imports $200 billion of fossil fuel. The country can reduce this import bill by investing in green hydrogen and also be the biggest producer and exporter of green hydrogen in the coming years.

He said that while relative shares of the economies of the developed world to the global output were dwindling , countries like India, China and African countries have been on a path to growth because of the young demographies. To take advantage of the situation, he called on the industries to propel the manufacturing market which will make products of international standards at affordable rates which will in turn benefit the country’s economy. 

According to him, for higher growth to be achieved, every state should be champions. “We need 10 to 12 states to grow at 10% plus to enable other states to also grow. The southern states have to play a key and critical role as they are the best in competition,” Kant said.

https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/india-to-push-green-hydrogen-digital-agenda-at-g20-amitabh-kant/3120483/

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Regional authorities in Murmansk have lobbied a northbound pipeline connection to the Kola Peninsula for decades, a practically every Post-Soviet governor has had the project on the agenda.

In the end, nobody seemed to take the plans seriously any longer.

But the war with Ukraine and Russia’s subsequent detachment from the European energy market might now restore faith in the project. Not only among the regional establishment in Murmansk, but also among federal authorities and energy companies in Moscow.

Russia today has a significant surplus of natural gas that need to find a new purpose. Gazprom plans to use parts of the energy in a string of petrochemical investments in Yamal. But there is room for more, and Novatek now proposes to build a LNG plant in the Kola Peninsula.

The Murmansk LNG is to have a capacity of 20,4 million tons per year and the first two of three projected trains are to be ready in 2027. The three trains will be floating gravity-based structures built at Novatek’s Kola Yard in Belokamenka. When ready, they are likely to be stationed somewhere in the Kola Bay.

The project includes a pipeline connection to Volkhov, the gas distribution hub located near St.Petersburg, and it will take advantage of cheap electric power from the Kola Nuclear Power Station, Kommersant reports.

Novatek seems confirms its intention to forge ahead with the plans. A news channel associated with the company itself shares information about the project.

The building of the pipeline, that is believed to have the capacity to transport up to 30 billion cubic meters per year, will require a close cooperation between Novatek and Gazprom. The former is also likely to depend on the latter for supplies of the needed gas volumes.

The development of the Murmansk LNG will be a major triumph for Andrei Chibis, the Murmansk Governor that over the past years has been a frequent visitor to key federal decision makers. Over the last 14 months, Chibis has met with Aleksandr Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the energy sector, as much as four times.

The projected pipeline might not only facilitate the building of the Murmansk LNG, but also the gasification key parts of the Kola Peninsula. Today, the far northern region is among the country’s regions with the least level of gasification, and regional heating systems depend on expensive and polluting fuel oil (mazut).

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2023/06/novatek-mulls-1000-km-pipeline-lng-plant-murmansk

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Department of Energy officials are set to visit the facility on Monday for the reopening, which was initially targeted on May 26.

SMC president Ramon Ang confirmed the reopening of the plant, which is expected to help provide stability in the power supply amid the projected high demand in the dry months and in the coming years. 

SMC through power arm SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. in April took delivery of the country’s first-ever liquefied natural gas cargo that would fuel the Ilijan power plant.

Ang expressed confidence on meeting the target date following the significant progress made in the construction of the country’s first LNG import terminal by Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific International Holdings. 

“With the reintegration of the Ilijan power plant into the power grid system, the country will be better assured of energy supply security these coming summer months and beyond. Hopefully, with all available power facilities operating–with no plants breaking down or going on unscheduled shutdown–we will have more than enough capacity for the rest of the year, and consumers will not have to experience brownouts or supply rotations,” said Ang. 

The Ilijan plant has been on extended outage since June 2022 after its gas sale and purchase agreement with the Malampaya consortium expired. 

Located in Batangas Bay, the new AG&P LNG terminal is flanked by the 1,200-MW Ilijan plant and the new 1,313-MW Batangas Combined Cycle Gas Plant also owned by SMGP. 

The DOE expressed hope the reopening of the Ilijan plant would end the yellow alert status in the Luzon grid this year.

https://manilastandard.net/business/power-technology/314334104/1200-mw-ilijan-gas-plant-set-to-reopen.html

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In this context, we stress the important role that increased deliveries of LNG can play and acknowledge that investment in the sector can be appropriate in response to the current crisis and to address potential gas market shortfalls provoked by the crisis,” wrote the G7 in their final communique last week.

The decision comes just weeks after a small group of Indigenous leaders went to Ottawa to meet face-to-face with diplomats from some of the world’s top economies.

Their message to the world was simple: Indigenous communities in Canada can and should be partners at the table when it comes to developing and sharing our country’s vast natural resources. And it may have resonated.

For John Desjarlais, executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network, the vote of confidence for LNG is music to his ears.

“I’d like to think that we were heard – we met with some pretty influential people and heard some of the right things,” he said.

“For them to make that commitment is a big deal, and certainly a difference from some of the early indicators before the G7.”

Tapped earlier this year as the new executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network, Desjarlais found himself in Ottawa with other Indigenous leaders in April, meeting with diplomatic representatives from Canada’s G7 partners – Germany, France, Japan and the United States – as well as delegations from Poland and India.

Desjarlais said he was surprised by just how open diplomats were to the notion that Indigenous communities in Canada can be key players in the global energy marketplace.

“What a whirlwind. It was inspiring, especially speaking with the ambassadors,” Desjarlais said of the two-day diplomatic blitz that both challenged perceptions and paved a path for Indigenous voices to play a more significant role on the international stage.

“Every official had a real desire to really understand Indigenous sentiment around resource development. There was a sincere desire to learn from our perspective.”

First Nations and Metis have emerged as key partners in Canadian resource projects, particularly the country’s nascent LNG industry.

Global demand for reliable and responsibly produced LNG has continued to grow, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year thrusting it into even greater prominence. The leaders of Canada’s G7 partners Germany and Japan both came to Canada last year to make direct appeals for more Canadian LNG but left with no firm commitments.

Desjarlais and a group of fellow Indigenous leaders who are on the advisory council for Energy for a Secure Future – a non-partisan coalition of business, labour and Indigenous representatives – outlined their vision for how Canada and First Nations can help be a solution in the drive for increased global energy security, while also helping lower emissions by providing a cleaner alternative to coal.

Crystal Smith, chief councillor of the Haisla Nation on B.C.’s coast, said the first step is dispelling the notion that Indigenous people oppose resource development in Canada.

“When Europeans, Asians and Americans think of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, they often think we oppose all energy development,” she said during a press conference to mark April’s diplomatic meetings.

“We aren’t victims of development. Increasingly we are partners and even owners in major projects.”

The Haisla Nation has a 50 per cent ownership stake in the proposed $3-billion Cedar LNG project, which was granted regulatory approval earlier this year, and is expected to begin operations in 2027.

It marks the largest Indigenous-owned infrastructure project in Canadian history and is the first Indigenous-owned LNG terminal in the world.

Karen Ogen, CEO of the First Nations LNG Alliance, said it is projects like Cedar LNG and others currently under development that will not only help Indigenous communities achieve prosperity but help the global community in the quest for vital energy security.

“LNG development has provided immediate- and medium-termed opportunities to lift thousands of Indigenous people and our communities out of inter-generational poverty,” she said. “We are determined to develop our resources in a socially and environmentally responsible way. We want to work with Canada and our allies in the G7 to bring urgency to the development and export of Canadian LNG.”

Beyond Cedar LNG, dozens of First Nations and Métis communities have entered into equity ownership agreements in pipelines, LNG facilities and carbon capture and storage projects, among others.

The Ksi Lisims LNG project, a joint venture with the Nisga’a Nation in northern B.C., has been granted a 40-year export licence from the Canada Energy Regulator, while in Atlantic Canada the Miawpukek First Nation is a part-owner of the proposed export project LNG Newfoundland and Labrador.

Large consortiums representing Indigenous communities have also acquired or are looking to acquire stakes in major pipeline projects, including Coastal GasLink, Trans Mountain, and several oil sands pipelines.

According to Desjarlais, the Ottawa summit proved to be a fruitful meeting of the minds. He said it could signal a more important role for Indigenous communities both as more equal resource partners in Canada and on the world stage as well. The group has been asked to meet with U.S. Ambassador David Cohen again in June.

“I never thought it would accelerate to this point – it’s accelerating so fast,” he said.

“Ownership is reconciliation. There’s a whole cascade of benefits that come from these projects everywhere.”

https://troymedia.com/business/indigenous-leaders-make-case-for-canadian-lng/

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As informed, the bunkering operation was completed from Teekay’s LNG carrier Pan Africa on 30 May. The milestone underscores the company’s “commitment to providing sustainable energy solutions that helps to reduce emissions in the shipping industry”.

“By embracing LNG as a bunker fuel, FueLNG is driving positive change and advancing the industry’s energy transition goals in tandem with Singapore’s sustainability objectives,” the firm noted.

FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel O&M and Shell Singapore Pte. Ltd., christened its newest LNG bunker vessel FueLNG Venosa at a ceremony held at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea last month.

Chartered from Korea Line LNG, the LNG bunker vessel has a total capacity of 18,000 cbm and is expected to bring significant economies of scale.

As described, the vessel is designed to facilitate safe and quick turnaround of vessels carrying out simultaneous cargo handling and bunkering operations; and is capable of bunkering different types of LNG fuel tanks.

Besides bunkering operations, FueLNG Venosa will provide gas-up and cool-down services to LNG carriers and LNG-fueled vessels after dry docking in Singapore or en route to loading operations.

Meanwhile, Teekay LNG, a Bermuda-based shipping company and one of the world’s largest owners of LNG carriers, merged with NYC-based investment firm Stonepeak, thus rebranding as Seapeak.

https://www.offshore-energy.biz/fuelng-venosa-singapores-2nd-lng-bunker-ship-wraps-up-1st-sts-bunkering/

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The Optimus, a long-term chartered LNG bunker vessel by Titan with a capacity of 6000 m3, and owned by Elengir, delivered LNG bunkers to the LFV, the AIDANova cruise vessel.

The operation was successfully carried out and it ran as planned. This was the first LNG bunker delivery ever performed in the Port of Kiel.

This was the first LNG delivery of a series of bunkers that Titan will deliver to the AIDANova cruise vessel.

https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/25052023/titan-and-carnival-corporation-conclude-first-lng-bunker-operation/

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