Russia Ships LNG Straight to Storage as Sanctions Bite
Russia has started shipping LNG from its flagship Arctic LNG 2 project—but not to customers. The shipments have been made from the Arctic project to floating storage units either in Russia or in European waters, as potential customers are unwilling to buy LNG from the facility, which has seen tightened Western sanctions in the past months, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing data from ship-tracking providers. Located in the Gydan Peninsula in the Arctic, Arctic LNG 2 was considered key to Russia’s efforts to boost its global LNG market share from 8% to 20% by 2030-2035. But the project has come under intensifying sanctions from the United States, which have put off any buyers that were previously considering buying cargoes from Arctic LNG 2. The project has already seen months of delays after the initial U.S. sanctions in November 2023 upended the company’s plans for production start-up and export timelines. Russia, however, has started to amass a dark fleet of tankers to ship its LNG in vessel ownership transfers similar to the moves that Moscow began after the invasion of Ukraine to create a shadow fleet to export oil and products in the face of Western sanctions. Some tankers have recently departed from the sanctioned terminal in northern Russia, signaling Moscow’s continued efforts to circumvent Western restrictions. Last month, the U.S. State Department intensified efforts to derail Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 exports by targeting companies involved in the development of the project and vessels found to have loaded LNG from the facility. The U.S. State Department in August said it had “taken new steps to sanction entities supporting the development of Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 and other future energy projects.” The Department designated multiple companies related to the Arctic LNG 2 project to further disrupt the project’s ability to produce and export LNG, as well as the project’s ability to procure critical LNG carriers. These designations include entities involved in the illicit loading of LNG from Arctic LNG 2 in early August. Three vessels – Pioneer, Asya Energy, and Everest Energy – are LNG carriers targeted by the new sanctions, as well as their registered owners Zara Shiphoding and Ocean Speedstar Solutions.
Govt Plans New Assessment Of Oil, Gas Reserves
The mines and petroleum department is set to initiate a new study aimed at assessing the potential for oil and gas deposits in Rajasthan. This move is expected to further expand oil and gas exploration and extraction sector under the discovered small fields (DSF) scheme. The study will encourage companies in the sector to adopt the latest global technologies in petroleum and gas exploration and extraction, with the goal of identifying and exploiting more areas within the state. In a review meeting on Tuesday, mines and petroleum department’s secretary, Anandi, emphasised the importance of leveraging data from the central govt’s national data repository (NDR). “By obtaining NDR data, new areas for exploiting the available oil and gas reserves will be identified, creating more opportunities for growth, investment, revenue and employment in the petroleum and gas sector,” the secretary said. An official present in the meeting said there are plans to prepare a roadmap to meet the demand and supply of natural gas as an alternative energy source for cement plants in Jaisalmer. “The aim is to ensure affordable green energy for the cement sector while promoting the production and utilisation of natural gas within the state,” he added. Currently, Rajasthan holds 13 petroleum mining leases and 14 petroleum exploration leases. It ranks second in the country for crude oil and natural gas land production.
Govt reduces natural gas price for September from $8.51 to $7.85/mmBtu
The ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG) said that the price of domestic natural gas has been reduced to $7.85 per million metric British thermal units (mmBtu) for September 2024, down from $8.51 in the previous month. However, the price of the gas from the nominated gas fields of ONGC and Oil India has been kept unchanged at the price cap of $6.50 per mmBtu. “The price of domestic natural gas for the 1st September 2024 to 30th September 2024 is notified as $7.85/mmBtu on gross calorific value (GCV) basis,” said the notification dated 31 July. The price of domestic natural gas has been linked to the India crude oil basket since April and is changed every month. The pricing decision is part of India’s ongoing effort to manage its natural gas sector effectively and balance the needs of producers and consumers. The new price follows the guidelines set forth by the MoPNG’s notification in April 2023, which established the framework for monthly price updates.
India, Brunei to expand space cooperation, discuss long-term LNG supplies
India and Brunei on Wednesday expanded their long-standing cooperation in space to satellite development and discussed the potential for long-term LNG supplies, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing the Southeast Asian state as an important partner in New Delhi’s vision for the Indo-Pacific. Modi, the first Indian premier to make a bilateral visit to Brunei, and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, agreed to elevate four-decade-old diplomatic ties to an enhanced partnership and discussed collaboration in emerging areas such as fintech and cyber-security. In an apparent nod to China’s activities across the region, a joint statement issued after talks between the two leaders said India and Brunei are committed to maintaining peace, stability, maritime safety and security, and respecting freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded lawful commerce in line with international law.
GAIL issues swap tender for 3 LNG cargoes, sources say
GAIL (India) Ltd GAIL.NS has issued a swap tender offering three liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for loading in the United States in exchange for three cargoes for delivery to India, two industry sources said on Wednesday. India’s largest gas distributor is offering three cargoes for loading on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis from Sabine Pass on Sept. 4-5, and from Cove Point on Oct. 29-31 and Nov. 28-30. In exchange, it is seeking three cargoes on a DES basis to the Dabhol terminal on Sept. 24-30, Nov. 10-15 and Dec. 1-6. The tender closes on Sept. 4.