Woodside Greenlights Louisiana LNG
Woodside Energy has announced the final investment decision for the Louisiana LNG project and plans to start production in 2029. The facility is designed to have three liquefaction trains with a total capacity of 16.5 million tons annually. This would boost Woodside’s total LNG capacity to 24 million tons annually by next decade, the company said. Woodside also has permits to expand the Louisiana LNG facility by another two trains, which would boost its capacity to a total 27.6 million tons annually. Woodside bought the former Driftwood LNG project as part of its acquisition of Tellurian for $1.2 billion last year. The deal “adds a scalable US LNG development opportunity to our existing approximately 10 Mtpa of equity LNG in Australia,” Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said at the time. Then, this year, reports emerged that Woodside was looking for partners in the projects, seeking to sell up to 50% of the ownership. Indeed, earlier this month the news broke that Woodside had sold 40% in Louisiana LNG to infrastructure investment firm Stonepeak. Under the terms of their deal, Stonepeak will provide $5.7 billion of the total capital expenditure for the project, accounting for 75% of total capex for the project this year and next. The entry of a partner in the project boosts Louisiana LNG’s economics and Woodside’s cash flow profile, said the Australian energy giant said. The price tag for the facility has been calculated at $17.5 billion. With Stonepeak’s entry into the project, Woodside’s share of that tag has declined to $11.8 billion. Per its operator, the Louisiana LNG facility will generate some $2 billion annually in net operating cash once it enters full-scale operation. “It will drive Woodside’s next chapter of value creation, giving the company’s global portfolio the potential to generate over $8 billion of annual net operating cash in the 2030s,” the company said.
Fuel oil transport via Ctg-Dhaka pipeline to begin trial in first week of May
BPC plans to commence full-scale operations after the trial run, the officials said. Earlier in March, BPC had planned to start transporting fuel through the new pipeline, but administrative complications delayed the process. Moni Lal Das, general manager (Commerce and Operations) of BPC, told TBS that project officials held a meeting yesterday (22 April) to review progress. “It was decided that the trial run will begin in the first week of May,” he said. According to BPC officials, once the project becomes operational, the cost of transporting fuel oil will decrease, the supply chain will become more reliable, and environmental pollution can be reduced. Around 2.7 million tonnes of diesel will be transported annually through the pipeline, saving around Tk 2.36 billion each year. According to project documents, the project was approved in October 2018 with an initial completion deadline of December 2020. However, actual work began in 2020. The deadline was first extended to December 2022, and later to December 2024. Initially, the project was estimated to cost Tk 28.61 billion, but the figure has now risen to nearly Tk 36.99 billion. The project is being implemented by the Bangladesh Army’s 24 Engineer Construction Brigade on behalf of BPC. The pipeline has two sections: one stretching from Patenga in Chattogram through Feni, Cumilla, Chandpur, and Munshiganj to the Godnail depot in Narayanganj; and the other from Godnail to Fatullah. In addition to the pipeline, the project also includes booster pumps, nine generators, and other related equipment.
Oil Prices Slip Further as Market Remains in Grip of Tariff Fear
Crude oil prices extended their decline today as traders remained fixated on demand and the impact of the tariff war between the U.S. and China on its future prospects. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $65.41 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $61.63 per barrel, both down from opening. Besides the tariff exchange, which has already hurt energy trade between the United States and China after the latter imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. crude oil and natural gas, OPEC+ is also keeping oil traders awake at night. After the cartel surprised everyone by deciding to boost production in May by about three times the original amount, now there are reports it might do the same in June. Reuters broke the news last week, citing unnamed sources as saying several OPEC members would suggest another substantial output hike for the following month. The publication also suggested that the motivation behind the more robust than originally planned output boost was overproduction by Iraq and Kazakhstan, especially the latter. To add insult to injury, Astana earlier this month said it could not curb production in line with OPEC+ quotas because it could not order international oilfield operators around, after it pledged to compensate for its overproduction. “Kazakhstan’s statement cements our view that OPEC+ may implement another accelerated three-month unwind again in the May meeting and it may continue again in July and through the summer,” Energy Aspects’ Amrita Sen said at the time. A further bearish factor for oil prices, U.S.-Iran nuclear talks seem to be making some progress, which means there is a chance that U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil will be lifted at some point in the future. That chance is pressuring prices right now. ING’s commodity analysts, meanwhile, reported Monday that traders had boosted their net long positions on Brent crude after two weeks of reductions. Most of that boost came from the liquidation of short positions, the Dutch bank’s team said.
Oil Prices Down Nearly 2% on Demand, Iran, Tariffs
Oil prices were trading down 2% intraday, driven by ongoing demand fears combined with perceived progress on Iran nuclear talks and tariff whiplash, which continues to unsettle markets. On Monday, April 28, at 2:57 p.m. ET, Brent crude was paring its 2% daily losses slightly, trading down 1.60% at $65.80, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading down 1.59% at $62.02. Oil prices are responding most heavily to the impact of the trade war on demand. On Monday, Beijing lashed out at Washington’s negotiating tactics, with Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, saying: “They make up bargaining chips out of thin air, bully and go back on their words.” The Chinese official was responding to Trump’s statement earlier in the day that the U.S. would not lower tariffs on China unless Beijing offered up “something substantial”. Last week, Rystad Energy told clients that if we get into a situation where we have a real and sustained trade war, it could cut China’s oil demand growth in half, which would lead to a massive dive in oil prices, Forbes reported. With respect to Iran, an unnamed senior U.S. official reportedly told Reuters that “further progress” had been made during talks with Iran over the weekend, which Washington hopes will lead to assurances from Tehran that the country’s nuclear program will not be weaponized. Those assurances, in turn, could lead to an easing or reversal of sanctions, stoking fears that Iranian oil could flood the market. Last Friday, Trump said he thought the talks would be successful, but Israel is attempting to throw a spanner in the works, with Netanyahu demanding that no relief be given to Iran unless all of its nuclear infrastructure is removed, in entirety. Israel is not satisfied with an Iran that will not weaponize its nuclear capabilities; instead, it wants an Iran stripped of the ability to even develop ballistic missiles, Al Jazeera reported. Trump insisted on Friday that regardless of Israel’s warring actions, the U.S. was not getting “dragged in”.
Biogas sector gets ₹2 billion investment commitments
The biogas sector has received investment commitments of more than ₹2 billion at renewable energy exhibition RenewX 2025, industry body Indian Biogas Association (IBA) said on Sunday. The three-day expo was held at the Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam from April 23 to 25. The event, organised by Informa Markets, saw investment commitments of ₹2 billion through various MoUs (memorandum of understandings) in the biogas industry, IBA sid in a statement. RenewX brought together stakeholders from across the bioenergy, solar, wind, energy storage, and management sectors, offering a platform for strategic collaborations and progressive discussions. With a focus on bioenergy innovations, sustainable partnerships, and policy dialogue, the bioenergy sector attracted strong interest from industry, professionals, investors, and policymakers, the statement said.
GreenLine launches LNG truck fleet for Bekaert’s logistics
GreenLine Mobility Solutions Ltd has launched a fleet of LNG-powered trucks for Bekaert to help decarbonise road logistics. This partnership aligns with India’s vision for a gas-based economy and is part of both companies’ commitments to reduce carbon emissions. The new LNG-powered trucks, deployed at Bekaert’s Ranjangaon Plant, are part of a pilot phase designed to significantly cut the carbon footprint of Bekaert’s logistics operations. Each truck is expected to cut up to 24 tonnes of CO₂ annually, bringing Bekaert closer to its goal of becoming carbon net-zero by 2050 and achieving 65 per cent sustainable sales. GreenLine’s LNG truck fleet has already driven over 40 million kilometres, avoiding more than 10,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The company plans to expand its fleet to over 10,000 LNG and EV trucks and set up a nationwide network of LNG refuelling stations, EV hubs, and battery swapping facilities, aiming to cut 1 million tonnes of CO₂ annually.