India’s Petronet renews investment deal with Tellurian
India’s top gas importer Petronet LNG has renewed its initial deal to consider investing $2.5 billion in U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Tellurian Inc’s Driftwood project, Indian sources familiar with the matter said. Petronet and Tellurian now have time until the end of December to finalise the deal, they said. The memorandum of understanding, which lapsed on May 31, was renewed last week ahead of a virtual meeting between Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.
World Bank says global gas flaring hit highest in over a decade in 2019
Global gas flaring increased to 150 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2019, the highest level in more than a decade, primarily due to increases in the United States, Venezuela and Russia, the World Bank said on Tuesday. Gas flaring, the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction, in fragile or conflict-affected countries climbed from 2018 to 2019, in Syria by 35 per cent and in Venezuela by 16 per cent, the World Bank report said. Flaring was up 23 per cent in the United Sates, and 9 per cent in Russia. The top four gas flaring countries – Russia, Iraq, the United States, and Iran – continue to account for 45 per cent of all global gas flaring, for three years running (2017-2019), the World Bank said. However, gas flaring fell by 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, with declines across most of the top 30 gas flaring countries, it added. “The current COVID-19 pandemic and crisis brings additional challenges, with sustainability and climate concerns potentially sidelined,” said Christopher Sheldon, practice manager in the Energy & Extractives Global Practice, World Bank.