The institute has conducted research on the economic feasibility of introducing electric buses for public transport in Pune. Of the 2,000 buses the city has, about 1,200 run on CNG while the remaining 800 operate on diesel. “Majority of the studies conducted so far have looked at the indirect viability in terms of health and pollution. Financial feasibility to understand the economics remains an unchartered territory,” said Suvedh Jaywant, a research scholar at TISS. The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) had inducted 25 electric buses in February this year and aims to commission 500 new-technology-based fully electric buses in its fleet. Jaywant said data analysis showed that according to the existing business model, it is viable to operate electric buses, having a cost per kilometre (CPK) of Rs 50.28 compared with diesel and hybrid buses with CPK of Rs 54.63 and Rs 56.07, respectively. Operating electric buses is environmental-friendly compared with diesel buses, added the scholar. Speaking to Mirror, the scholar said that the scenario may change making the electric buses more feasible. “The costs of batteries used in the buses are expected to get cheaper while the cost of the CNG is increasing. In such a case, the total cost inclusive of the capital and purchase expenses could become comparable to the diesel and CNG operating buses in the long term and if the electric buses are commissioned in phases,”Jaywant added. Chairman and MD of PMPML, Nayana Gunde, however, said that it would be too soon to comment on the total benefits of the electric buses. “It has been just three months since the 25 buses have started their operations in the city. It would take at least six months to understand the economics for the public transport services,” she said, adding that the earnings per kilometre are definitely better but a long term study would be required to actually know the feasibility.

https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/electric-buses-are-more-cost-effective-says-study/articleshowprint/69639814.cms?prtpage=1

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Electric mobility is the future, and India is all set to fast-track the adoption of electric vehicles across different segments. The government has pushed early adoption of electric vehicles by offering incentives and special schemes for manufacturers of electric vehicles. Under the FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacture of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) Scheme, the government has earmarked ₹ 10,000 crore to help establish charging infrastructure for electric vehicles as well as provide incentives to electric vehicle manufacturers and allied supply chain industries. But now, the government’s think tank, Niti Aayog has gone a step further, proposing a ban on all three-wheelers powered by internal combustion engines along with two-wheelers of 150 cc and below displacement. The electric two-wheeler space is still in a nascent stage, but slowly and certainly, conventional two-wheeler manufacturers are stepping up development of electric scooters and bikes. Niti Aayog also proposes a complete ban on three-wheelers powered by internal combustion engines. But how realistic is it to set a deadline to phase out all three-wheelers with internal combustion engines, and that too, within a short period of just three years?

Source: NDTV Car & Bike

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Zheng Jingu, the Shenzen transit official said that though it costs a lot of money but it helps our citizens and improves air. The tech hub became the first city in the world to have electric buses and electric taxi fleet. The transition from diesel and gasoline was completed in January which led to reducing of CO2 emissions from the air of about 1.35 MMT a year by removing 280,00 passenger cars off the road.

Source: electricvehicles.in

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The authorities will order both the companies to adopt electric vehicles 2.5 percent by 2021, 5 percent by 2022, 10 percent by 2023, and 40 percent by 2024. Ola and Uber have been given the opportunity to transform their fleet gradually.

Source: electricVehicles.in

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“The levelised tariff for integrated HVJ is Rs 41.11 per MMBtu on a GCV (gross calorific value) basis,” oil regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) said in its order. Industry officials said GAIL has been charging Rs 25.46 per MMBtu to those who have been the users of the pipeline since November 2008 and Rs 53.65 per MMBtu to users since March 2010. Under the new structure, the tariff would increase 61.4% for old customers, while it would come down 23.3% for the new customers. About 80% of GAIL’s customers are old users. Officials said the state-owned firm was finding it difficult to get new customers as they had to pay more than double the rate paid by the older users. The new tariff rate would boost the customer base of the state-owned gas transmission firm. GAIL’s integrated pipeline network of HVJ, Dahej-Vijaipur (DVPL) and Vijaipur-Dadri (GREP) accounts for over 70% of the PSU’s gas transmission volume. GAIL had sought to raise the tariff to Rs 175.20 per MMBtu in HVJ from Rs 25.46 per MMBtu and to Rs 88.09 per MMBtu in DVPL from Rs 53.65 per MMBtu. Stating that such a tariff would be highly inequitable for the users of the HVJ system compared with DVPL, GAIL said a “final levalised tariff of Rs 97.04 per mBtu for the HVJ integrated system be considered by the regulator”. The firm said such a levalised tariff would help the gas users of the standalone HVJ pipleine as the tariff would substantially come down, and it would undergo marginal upward revision for the DVPL users. However, the hike would lead to an increase in the costs for the fertiliser, power and city gas companies which use the gas from the pipelines. “Though the returns for the gas transmission entities would improve with the revision in tariffs, the final tariffs approved are significantly lower than the tariffs submitted owing to the conservative assumptions taken by PNGRB,” Prashant Vasisht, vice-president and co-head, corporate ratings, Icra, said.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/hike-in-gail-pipeline-rates/cid/1691873

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The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) in its zonal tariff order on June 4 approved a 337% hike in tariff for zone 1 and 79% hike in zone 2. On March 13, 2019, the PNGRB had approved a 37% rise in levelised tariff starting April 1, 2019 from Rs 52.23 per MMBtu to Rs 71.66 per MMBtu and had said zonal tariff will be announced after getting proposal from the pipeline operator. The loss-making pipeline transports Reliance Industries’ eastern offshore KG-D6 gas. Soon after tariffs were revised, Brookfield on March 15 announced that it would buy a 100% stake in the pipeline operator Pipeline Infrastructure (PIPL), owned by Mukesh Ambani. Production of natural gas from KG D6 has fallen from 69.43 MMSCMD achieved in March 2010 to under 3 MMSCMD at present. The tariffs for zone 3, 4 and 5 have been revised upwards by 46%, 36% and 32%, respectively. The PNGRB in its order noted that it found the zonal tariff proposed by PIPL for the first two zones to be significantly higher than the existing tariff and approved the same only after studying zone-wise volumes from FY10 to FY19. “…it is observed that actual average tariff realisation for PIPL is below the levelised tariff of Rs 52.23 in each of the years during the period FY2009-10 to FY2018-19.” However, this may not be the case in future, as volumes of gas transported is likely to go up significantly once CGDs approved start operations. While 86 geographical areas have been awarded during the ninth round, 50 were awarded during the 10th round.

https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/east-west-gas-pipeline-steep-hike-in-tariffs-to-hit-user-industries/1599185/

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Sources said the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has completed the evaluation of the bids received for 32 oil and gas exploration blocks that were auctioned in the latest licensing round. As per the bid evaluation, ONGC and Vedanta Ltd are top bidders in nine blocks each and state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) in 12 areas. Reliance-BP combine outbid ONGC in one Krishna Godavari basin block in the Bay of Bengal. The winners of the auction will be announced after the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources added. Bidding for 14 blocks on offer in the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) round-II and another 18 oil and gas blocks and 5 coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks on offer in OALP-III closed on May 15. When the government in July 2017 allowed companies to carve out blocks of their choice with a view to bring about 2.8 million sq km of unexplored area in the country under exploration, Reliance-BP sought the KG area containing the discoveries. Under the new policy, areas sought by any company are put on auction with the initiator or the company that originally carved out the block, getting a 5 point advantage. Sources said Reliance-BP managed to get the coveted KG block in the latest auction by a small margin that possibly came from the originator marks and a commitment to do a shale core exploration. Reliance-BP had last jointly bid for a KG deep water block in the 8th bid round under previous licensing policy in 2008. They, however, gave up the block after not finding any commercially exploitable oil and gas reserves. Sources said at the close of bidding for the current round on May 15, ONGC had put in bids for 20 out of the 32 blocks on offer, while OIL made bids for 16 blocks. Vedanta, which had walked away with 41 out of the 55 blocks offered in OALP-I last year, bid for 30 areas. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), GAIL (India) and SunPetro bid for two blocks each, they said. In OALP-1, Vedanta walked away with 41 out of 55 blocks bid out. Oil India won nine blocks while ONGC managed to win just two.

https://www.zeebiz.com/india/news-ongc-vedanta-set-to-win-9-oil-gas-blocks-each-reliance-bp-one-oil-12-101728

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Spot trading for the super-chilled fuel was volatile this week with prices moving quickly from opening to closing of the market within a day, a Singapore-based industry source said. Higher oil prices could also be supporting, as majority of the LNG contracts are priced off Brent crude oil, the sources added.

Brent crude oil prices extended gains on Friday (June 14) following attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman that stoked concerns of reduced crude flows of the commodity through one of the world’s key shipping routes. There has been no immediate impact on LNG tankers yet, a shipping source told Reuters. Australia’s Woodside Petroleum bought several cargoes in the spot market as it has extended a planned maintenance at its Pluto LNG plant after technical problems when restarting production, industry sources said. South Korea’s GS Energy also bought a cargo for late July to early August delivery at $4.50 to $4.70 per MMBtu, they added. SK Energy may also be looking for a cargo for the same period, one of them said. Still, the market is well supplied with new LNG exports from Australia and the United States, the sources said. Cheniere Energy Inc said on Thursday the second liquefaction train at its Corpus Christi LNG export terminal in Texas had started producing LNG. Looking at all the terminals under construction, total U.S. LNG export capacity is expected to increase to 7.4 bcfd by the end of 2019 and 10.0 bcfd by the end of 2020, up from 5.7 bcfd now. The first three liquefaction trains at Freeport LNG’s Freeport liquefied natural gas export terminal in Texas are also expected to enter service in September 2019, January 2020 and May 2020, according to a report on Thursday from federal energy regulators. Royal Dutch Shell shipped the long-awaited first cargo of from its massive Prelude floating LNG plant off northwest Australia earlier this week, also adding to the supply.

https://in.reuters.com/article/global-lng/asian-lng-prices-higher-on-oil-gains-production-curbs-in-australia-idINKCN1TF0TQ

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Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said Saudi Aramco had extended its offer to join Russian gas producer Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project and that he hoped Novatek would agree to it, TASS news agency reported on Monday (June10). Falih told TASS in an interview Saudi Aramco was also studying Russian energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom’s LNG projects and that Saudi Arabia might be interested in investing in Russian petrochemical company Sibur.

Source: LNG Global/Reuters

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The Prelude floating LNG vessel – about four soccer fields long – dispatched on Monday its first cargo from its position off northwestern Australia to a customer in Asia, Shell said in a statement on Tuesday (June11). When Prelude was conceived more than a decade ago, Shell would have been confident that Asia was the right market to target for LNG, given the region’s strong energy demand growth and the need for cleaner fuels than coal. The problem for Shell, though, is that Prelude is effectively the last cab off the rank, being the final of eight projects, collectively worth some $200 billion, to come online in Australia in the past five years. Australia has now overtaken Qatar as the world’s largest producer of LNG, and while the long-term prognosis for the super-chilled fuel may still be positive, 2019 is proving a tough year in biggest market Asia. Of the five biggest importers in Asia, only China has seen any growth in demand in the first five months of the year, compared to the same period of 2018. China imported 23.9 MMT of LNG over January to May, up 22.6% on 19.5 MMT from the same months last year, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Refinitiv. It’s worth noting that while this looks like robust growth, it’s about half of the 41% rate China achieved in 2018. The growth story in the world’s second-biggest buyer of LNG was overshadowed by declines almost everywhere else in Asia. Top buyer Japan imported 32.9 MMT in the first five months of the year, down from 36.2 MMT. Third-ranked South Korea bought 16.8 MMT, down from 19.2 MMT. India’s imports slipped slightly to 8.6 MMT from 8.8 MMT, and Taiwan’s fell to 6.6 MMT from 7.3MMT.

Among smaller Asian buyers there was better news, with Pakistan boosting imports to 3.5 MMT from 2.9 MMT, Thailand’s take rising to 2.2 MMT from 1.7 MMT, and Singapore holding purchases steady at 1.4 MMT.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-column-russell-lng-asia/column-china-buys-more-lng-but-cant-offset-the-rest-of-asias-losses-idUKKCN1TE15Z

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following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region in 2014 and conflict with separatists in the east of the country. “For us not to support Ukraine in every reasonable, feasible way that we can is an irresponsible act… We are not going to allow for anyone to coerce another country, particularly using energy as a weapon. It will not stand.” The United States has strongly criticised Nord Stream 2, a 11 billion euro ($12.4 billion) project to build a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, which opponents fear will undermine Ukraine’s gas transit revenues and increase the EU’s reliance on Russian gas. On the competitiveness of US LNG prices, Perry told reporters on the sidelines of the conference: “This idea that somehow … LNG can’t compete with pipelined gas is just false.” “The US supply, the US reserves of natural gas are massive. The … pressure downward on price of LNG is going to continue,” he said. “Even if Russia wants to continue to subsidise their gas prices, at some point in time they will run out of gas to subsidise,” he added. Perry also said the United States continued to have the option of imposing sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 project, but declined to elaborate.

US threatens EU companies with sanctions over Nord Steam 2, Turkish Stream

A transatlantic tiff over Europe’s natural gas supply came to the boil on Sunday (13 January), as Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany threatened firms involved in a pipeline from Russia with sanctions. At stake is a mixture of economic and security interests for … “We think it’s a bad idea to rely on a single source of energy and that’s basically what you get with the Nord Stream 2, and Europe is seeing first hand that Russia will cut your gas off,” he said, adding most EU countries were against the pipeline being finished. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told the same conference that infrastructure in Eastern Europe was worse than in the West, limiting connectivity and access to energy sources. “We have very nice plans on the tables, we have very nice promises … about energy ports to be built in the region but heating flats and operating an economy cannot be based on only promises,” Szijjártó added. Last week Bulgaria for the first time imported US LNG, the local press reported. Bulgaria used the Greek LNG terminal Revithoussa near Athens. Reportedly, the price was under the cost of Russian pipeline gas.

Source: LNG Global

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Cheniere also said it expects to make a positive final investment decision as early as 2020 to add about 9.5 MMTPA of additional liquefaction capacity at its Corpus Christi LNG export terminal in Texas. Natural gas use is growing rapidly around the world as countries, like China, seek to wean their industrial and power sectors off dirtier coal. Cheniere is the biggest supplier of U.S. LNG and also the biggest buyer of gas in the country. Cheniere said it gave Bechtel, the lead contractor building its LNG terminals, notice to proceed with construction of Sabine 6. To fund a portion of Sabine 6 and a third LNG berth at the plant, Cheniere said its Cheniere Energy Partners LP subsidiary entered into 5-year, $1.5 billion senior secured credit facilities with 29 banks and financial institutions. Cheniere said it boosted the run-rate production guidance of its liquefaction trains to 4.7–5.0 MMTPA of LNG, up from 4.4-4.9 MMTPA. That’s equivalent to around 0.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas. One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to supply about five million U.S. homes for a day.

Source: LNG Global

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“The ship carrying LNG from the United States has arrived at the Greek Revithoussa LNG terminal,” Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said. “This is yet another step towards liberalisation of the gas market and a clear sign of diversification.” The first LNG shipment is from U.S. producer Cheniere and the second one from the U.S. unit of British Petroleum, she said. Sofia at present buys almost all of its gas from Russia via one route. It pledged to diversify after a 2009 dispute with Moscow disrupted winter supplies. It is set to begin receiving mainly Azeri gas via a 182 km interconnector link with Greece expected to be ready by the end of 2020 with an initial annual capacity of three billion cubic metres.

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/bulgaria-in-first-u-s-gas-deals-buys-two-lng-cargoes/

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The state-of-the-art facility was constructed through a joint venture between Pivotal LNG and NorthStar Midstream. In addition to marine and trucking companies, the JAX LNG plant is positioned to serve other industries, including rail, drilling, mining, power generation, commercial and industrial. Currently, the JAX LNG facility has the capacity to produce 120,000 gallons of LNG per day and store more than 2 million gallons of LNG. There is room at the site to expand the facility and add two liquefaction trains and a second storage tank which would increase LNG production capacity to 600,000 gallons per day and store up to 4 million gallons.  JAX LNG can use its advantaged location on the water to service its maritime customers via LNG transport vessels. NorthStar is owned by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.  Jared Parker, co-portfolio manager of Oaktree’s Infrastructure Investing strategy stated, “We believe LNG is the logical fuel choice for ships calling on ports in the United States. We are excited to be developing the infrastructure necessary to make this option available for the transportation needs of companies focused on emission reductions and meeting IMO 2020 requirements.” Tim Casey, senior vice president of LNG, commented, “NorthStar and our owners are excited about the partnership we have with Pivotal LNG and Southern Companies in JAX LNG.  We look forward to expanding our ability to bring environmentally-friendly LNG as a next generation fuel to the market”.JAX LNG is also the long-term supplier of LNG to the world’s first LNG dual-fuel container ships, the Isla Bella and Perla del Caribe, operated by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico.

https://www.ngvjournal.com/s1-news/c7-lng-h2-blends/u-s-first-small-scale-waterside-lng-production-facility-is-operational/[Edited]

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The tanker Marvel Crane departed the Cameron LNG site, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Though it’s not clear where the cargo will land, the tanker is currently chartered by Mitsui & Co, a partner in the Cameron terminal. The facility is the fourth to send super-chilled US shale gas overseas, with about a dozen other projects vying to be part of the next wave of the nation’s LNG exporters. Sempra is adding new supply to the global market just as prices crater and a trade tussle between the US and China intensifies. Though President Donald Trump visited Cameron on May 14 to tout the terminal as an example of US energy dominance, the dispute between the world’s two largest economies threatens the viability of proposals for similar facilities. Still, the startup of new export projects is helping the US to compete for a bigger slice of the world’s LNG trade. With America’s gas production reaching a record this year amid the shale boom, exports have become a vital relief valve for output of the heating and power-plant fuel. China said on May 13 it will raise tariffs on US supplies of the super-chilled fuel to 25% from 10% beginning June 1, in retaliation for Washington increasing duties on Chinese goods. Companies including NextDecade Corp, Tellurian Inc and Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd are seeking billions of dollars worth of investment to construct new terminals.

San Diego-based Sempra has a 50.2% stake in the Cameron terminal. Its partners on the project include Mitsui, Mitsubishi Corp, Total SA and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha.

https://www.gulf-times.com/story/633131/First-LNG-sails-from-Sempra-s-10bn-US-export-termi

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the world’s biggest floating LNG production unit and the biggest maritime vessel ever built – is expected to have an annual LNG production capacity of 3.6 MMT. It will also produce 1.3 MMTPA of condensate and 400,000 tonnes a year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The start-up of LNG production from Prelude would correspond with new project start-ups in the United States and would further saturate the tumbling global LNG market with oversupply. Shell, owns 67.5 percent of the Prelude FLNG project, did not elaborate on how quickly the project would ramp up production, however. The company first decided to go ahead with the project in 2011. After long delays, it introduced gas to the 490 metre-long (1,600 ft-long) Prelude FLNG for the first time a year ago as part of the cooling process before start-up. Shell had hoped to start generating cash flow from Prelude in 2018. It exported the first condensate cargo in March this year. Japan’s Inpex Corp, Taiwan’s CPC Corp and Korea Gas Corp hold the rest of the shares in the Prelude project.

Source: LNG Global

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The two companies had previously agreed that Gazprom will supply 1.2 billion cubic meters of LNG to OMV in 2020. On this basis, both partners have now agreed to continue the cooperation beyond the year 2020, including the sale and purchase of conventional and small-scale LNG cargo. In addition, both companies intend to explore options for the joint development of small-scale LNG infrastructure projects. “We have been receiving reliable gas supplies from Russia for more than 50 years. Now we are extending our cooperation to LNG. This will contribute to the diversification of sources of supply and help us safeguard security of supply in Europe,” said Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV.

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/gazprom-and-omv-signed-a-memorandum-of-understanding-on-lng-cooperation/

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The cargo was sourced from an unnamed supplier by PTT International Trading – the trading arm of PTT that is based in Singapore – and is scheduled to be delivered into India in June, the source said, declining to elaborate on details of the deal. This is the first LNG cargo transacted by PTT International Trading and first sale of the super-chilled fuel by the PTT group, which is typically a buyer and started importing LNG for Thai domestic use in 2011, the source said. e source declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak with media. Thailand is in the midst of liberalising its power sector to boost competition in the domestic market. The southeast Asian country relies mainly on natural gas to generate power but domestic supply is falling behind consumption, requiring the country to import more LNG. PTT set up an LNG trading desk in its Singapore trading office in February and is in the process of optimising its LNG-related assets, including the use of its Map Ta Phut import terminal at Rayong in Thailand with a capacity of 11.5 million tonnes per year, the source said. PTT is currently the country’s sole gas supplier and its only LNG importer, but state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is expected to start imports later this year. PTT has just begun construction on a second LNG terminal with a capacity of 7.5 million tonnes a year that is expected to be ready by 2022, the source said. PTT’s Singapore office has about 70 staff, who trade in oil and other commodities.

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/ptt-sells-first-lng-cargo-to-kick-off-singapore-gas-trading/

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The facility at Tornio’s Roytta harbour includes a 50,000 cbm storage tank, and facilities for refueling ships and vaporizing LNG. The Tornio terminal was developed as a joint effort by several companies of the Northern Finland industrial cluster, including the steel companies Outokumpu and SSAB, EVP Energy and the gas energy distributor Gasum. Outokumpu steel has invested in recent years 30 million euros for a shift to using LNG in its Tornio facility instead of propane, local media has reported. The Outokumpu steel plant in Tornio will be largest user of the new terminal. The SSAB steel plant in Raahe, about 200 kilometers south of Tornio, is another major user. Kimmo Rahkamo, Vice President in charge of natural gas and LNG at Gasum, said on Tuesday “the terminal significantly supports the emission goals of Finland, as well as the entire Nordics”. He said that building this distribution infrastructure will make it easier for also new operators to start using LNG. Rahkamo underlined that in the future the same gas infrastructure can be shift to the use of liquefied biogas (LBG). Tornio is located at the Northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia that separates Finland and Sweden. So far the only LNG facility along the Gulf was in Pori, 600 kilometers down from Tornio, with a capacity of 30,000 cbm.

https://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/12/c_138134754.htm

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A pact this year between the world’s two largest economies — the bank’s base case — will likely lead to large Chinese purchases of American LNG, which would help shrink the U.S. trade deficit, it said in a report. This would help boost the U.S. share of China’s gas imports by 2025 to 21%, compared with 5% without a deal, Morgan Stanley said. It was only 2% last year. “A higher LNG trade from the U.S. to China would potentially be a win-win deal for both,” analysts including Andy Meng wrote. Not only could it reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China by $17 billion annually, it might also help China save $1.8 billion a year in energy costs, the bank estimates. There may also be major implications for the global LNG market. The U.S. is bringing on new projects and is set to become the No. 1 supplier. All that production needs to find a home, and China is expected to take the title as top importer some time early next decade. Without a deal, it is likely to turn to other countries including Russia, Australia and the Middle East to fulfill its gas demand, Morgan Stanley said. China’s imports of American gas have dropped since Beijing slapped a 10% duty on the fuel in September in a series of tit-for-tat tariffs. Pressure has mounted after the duty was raised to 25% from June as a deal remained elusive. Trump is seeking a meeting with Xi at the upcoming Group of 20 summit in Japan, threatening to raise tariffs on China again if it doesn’t happen. A “no deal” scenario would be negative for long-term U.S. natural gas prices, as well as for projects seeking final investment decisions. The ongoing trade war has caused Chinese buyers to avoid investing in U.S. developments or signing long-term offtake agreements. It would also push China to buy more gas from existing suppliers, with Russia’s Gazprom PJSC and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. in Australia seen as key beneficiaries. While there is still sufficient supply under this scenario, the cost of imports would likely be higher than U.S. LNG, the bank said.

Source: LNG Global/Bloomberg

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Wold said that exponential growth in installed LNG tank capacity pointed to a potential boom in LNG for larger vessels over the coming years. Is shipping at a turning point in terms of its fuel mix? AFI head Martin Wold suggested that the rapid growth in installed LNG tank capacity could mark the start of a new era in ship fuel. “There are now 163 LNG-fuelled ships in operation and a further 155 ships on order,” he said. “Order intake for LNG-fuelled vessels has remained steady for several years now at around 40 ships per year. However, in 2019 we have already passed 40 new orders in the first five months, which could be a sign that the pace for LNG fuel investments is picking up.” “Perhaps more interestingly,” he continued, “the AFI platform shows that installed LNG tank volume will more than triple from around 100 000 m3 today to the end of 2020. This represents large tanks in large vessels, propelled by the introduction of LNG fuel in the cruise, container and tanker segments. The 2020 ‘sulphur cap’ seems to have accelerated LNG adoption, especially for larger ships, which could be good news for the industry, increasing fuel availability and improving asset utilisation.”

The number of vessels with scrubbers stood at 3553, said Wold, but this could be higher as some manufacturers did not report orders on a regular basis. “The boom of 2018 seems to have levelled off somewhat, but new orders keep coming in. There are more than 2000 installations reported to be completed in 2019, which would mean by the start date of the ‘sulphur cap’ almost 3000 scrubber vessels will be in operation,” he said. “However, due to the complexity of scrubber retrofits, we expect that not all of these vessels will be on the water by 2020.” The AFI platform covers LNG, LPG and methanol, as well as emission reducing technologies such as scrubbers and batteries. With interactive maps and data visualisations, it is easy for users to see where infrastructure already exists or will shortly be developed, alongside the growing alternative fuelled fleet. Advanced tools let users dig deeper into the data to analyse trends and screen the feasibility of their alternative fuel projects based on CAPEX, OPEX, and fuel prices. Most content is free to access.

https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/07062019/lng-a-growing-force-in-large-vessel-orders/

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LNG is currently the cleanest marine fuel available due to lower emissions of CO2, SOx, NOx and particulates. With liquid biogas climate benefits will increase even further with the addition of net-zero carbon emissions. Since autumn 2018 there has been a permanent bunkering facility for LNG at the Port of Gothenburg, owned and operated by Swedegas. From the outset, both LNG and bio-LNG could be bunkered there. The facility offers open access to all suppliers looking to provide the shipping sector with the opportunity to bunker LNG. Under the new agreement with Swedegas, FordonsGas will supply bio-LNG to the recently opened facility. FordonsGas, part of the Air Liquide Group, is the only producer of bio-LNG in Sweden. “We deliver solutions for sustainable mobility and we are looking forward to being part of the investment in bio-LNG for the maritime sector. Making it available to shipping is a natural development for us, and through the agreement with Swedegas we have made a firm, long-term commitment,” said Emil Glimåker, Director Nordic Countries, Air Liquide Advanced Business & Technology.

https://www.ngvjournal.com/s1-news/c7-lng-h2-blends/swedegas-fordonsgas-sign-agreement-to-bring-bio-lng-to-gothenburg/[Edited]

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According to Tony Lauritzen, chief executive officer of Dynagas LNG Partners, the company is in an advanced stage with commercial banks and other capital sources for a potential financing transaction which may provide funding for the payment due on the maturity date of its 2019 notes and/or term loan. Currently Dynagas LNG Partners’ fleet of six LNG carriers have all been contracted on charters to international gas producers with an average remaining duration of 9.3 years. “We believe in the positive long term fundamentals of the LNG shipping industry as the production of LNG continues to grow and natural gas continues to gain market share as a reliable, abundant, price competitive and relatively cleaner energy resource,” Lauritzen said. “We are looking forward to concluding our above-mentioned refinancing and thereafter, focusing on new projects in the future,” Lauritzen added. Dynagas LNG Partners reported a net income of $1.9m for the first quarter down by 60.4% from net income of $4.8m in the same period of 2018.

https://splash247.com/dynagas-in-talks-for-250m-refinancing/

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This achievement, which saw a Q-Max vessel safely discharge LNG at two terminals in Spain, is testament to the company’s commitment to leading the LNG industry in terms of operational flexibility and supply chain efficiency. “Qatargas continues to deliver innovative solutions which provide greater efficiency, flexibility and optimisation of resources. This multi-port delivery further demonstrates our commitment to maintaining our position as the world’s premier LNG company,” said its chief executive Khalid bin Khalifa al-Thani. The established practice in the LNG industry is to deliver a single cargo of LNG to a single location. Qatargas’ pioneering achievement was made possible by using the largest class of LNG vessel in the world, a Q-Max vessel, which has a cargo carrying capacity of 266,000 cubic metres. This allows a Q-Max to deliver two full conventional size cargoes on one vessel. Qatargas loaded the cargo at the Ras Laffan terminal in Qatar on the Q-Max LNG vessel ‘Mekaines’ on May 12. The two cargo ‘parcels’ were delivered to the Barcelona and Cartagena LNG terminals in Spain on May 30 and June 1 respectively. Advancements such as multi-port delivery on Q-Max vessels, coupled with a global reputation for safe and reliable operations, reinforce Qatargas’ position as the premier LNG supplier of choice in an ever-competitive and evolving market, its spokesman said.

https://www.gulf-times.com/story/633210/Qatargas-completes-largest-ever-multi-port-deliver

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