OMV joins ADNOC for Ghasha gas project in Abu Dhabi
Austrian oil and gas group OMV signed a concession agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for a 5 per cent stake in the Ghasha offshore gas and condensate fields, strengthening its position in the region, it said on Wednesday. The Ghasha project consists of the three major gas and condensate development projects – Hail, Ghasha and Dalma – as well as other offshore oil, gas and condensate fields, including Nasr, SARB and Mubarraz, OMV said.
Saudi’s Min Falih discusses joint refining projects with India’s Reliance
India’s Reliance, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia will explore joint investments in refining and petrochemicals in the two countries, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said. Al-Falih tweeted that he met Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and they discussed joint investment opportunities and cooperation in petrochemicals, refining and telecoms in their two countries. Reliance’s two oil refineries in western India have a combined capacity to process 1.4 million barrels per day of crude and the company has set a target to raise capacity by a further 600,000 bpd.
Oil marketing companies want to procure compressed bio gas
IOCL has launched awareness programmes on sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation initiative. State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited recently organised a roadshow in Pune aware on public on SATAT (sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation) initiative launched by petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan. As part of SATAT initiative, OMCs are inviting expression of interest to procure compressed bio gas (CBG) from potential entrepreneurs and make it available in the market for use as automotive fuel. It envisions establishment of 5,000 CBG plants pan-India with an estimated production of 15 million tons per annum by 2023. The innovative SATAT initiative is a push to boost availability of more affordable transport fuels, better use of agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste as well as to provide an additional revenue source to farmers.
South Korea’s 2018 LNG imports to hit record high over 42 mt
South Korea’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are set to reach an all-time high over 42 million tonnes in 2018 thanks to robust power generation demand, but next year’s shipments are likely to ebb on increased coal and nuclear power. South Korea, the world’s No.3 LNG importer after Japan and China, typically takes between 33 million and 37 million tonnes of LNG a year, mainly for heating, power generation and cooking. This year, a volume of 42.8 million tonnes of LNG is the expected intake, up 13.8 per cent from 37.6 million tonnes last year, according to ship-tracking data from Refinitiv Eikon. That would top 2013 LNG import levels of nearly 40 million tonnes, the country’s customs data showed. That was the year South Korea faced a series of nuclear reactor shutdowns due to a safety scandal over faulty parts, which led to an increase in gas power generation. “Gas usage for power generation sharply rose this year because the country’s nuclear utilization rate was the lowest so other power sources like gas had to fill the void,” said Shin Ji-yoon, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities in Seoul. In the six months of the year, an average of almost half of the country’s 24 nuclear reactors were offline for planned maintenance, according to Reuters calculations based on data from state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. As of now, six reactors are shut down. South Korea’s nuclear utilization rates dropped to just 63.6 per cent for the first three quarters of 2018, the lowest rate ever, according to the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power data. LNG VOLUMES EXPECTED TO BE LOWER IN 2019 Coal and nuclear together produce about 70 per cent of South Korea’s total electricity needs, although the country is trying to lower its dependence on those two fuels to shift its energy policy towards cleaner and safer energy in the long term. This year, gas power’s share of the country’s power supply mix outstripped nuclear-produced electricity over January-October, according to calculations on data from Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO). Gas-fired generation through October accounted for 26.7 per cent of electricity produced, up from 20.3 per cent last year, while nuclear made up 23.1 per cent, down from 27.6 per cent. Looking ahead, South Korea’s LNG demand growth for power generation is expected to hover around 1 per cent in 2019, down from nearly 20 per cent this year, robbed of room to grow as more coal and nuclear power plants are still coming online despite the plans for a long-term shift in policy, according to a report by state-funded think-tank Korea Energy Economic Institute. “We expect that (LNG) imports next year will be lower than this year but will still exceed 40 million tonnes,” said Nicholas Browne, director of Asia-Pacific gas and LNG at Wood Mackenzie.