Exxon, Qatar to start construction on Texas Golden Pass LNG export plant
Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum told the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday they would start construction of the $10 billion-plus Golden Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Texas on May 13: * Exxon and Qatar Petroleum made a final investment decision to build the project in February and expect the project to enter service in 2024. * Golden Pass is designed to produce around 16 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG, equivalent to about 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas. * One billion cubic feet is enough gas for about 5 million U.S. homes for a day. * Qatar Petroleum owns 70 percent of the project, while Exxon owns 30 percent. * Enable Midstream Partners LP has said it expects to complete the Gulf Run pipeline to transport gas to Golden Pass in late 2022. * Golden Pass selected McDermott International Inc, Chiyoda Corp and Zachry Group to build the project. * After exporting no LNG at the start of 2016, the United States is expected to become the third biggest LNG exporter in the world in 2019 behind Australia and Qatar. * The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected U.S. LNG exports will rise to an average of 5.3 bcfd in 2019 and 7.4 bcfd in 2020 from 3.0 bcfd in 2018. LNG exports in 2018 were worth about $3.5 billion. * Looking at just 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 bcfd by the end of 2020, up from 5.2 bcfd now.
Elections boost India’s petrol use to highest-ever
March 2019 recorded the highest level of monthly petrol consumption in India, thanks to the campaigning for the ongoing general elections, improved economic activity and the reduced price differential between petrol and diesel cars that boosted consumers’ preference for petrol vehicles, according to the oil ministry. The country consumed 2,577 thousand tonnes of petrol in March, a growth of 7.2 percent over 2,404 thousand tonnes in the same month last year. However, data for the full financial year 2018-19, released recently, shows petrol consumption growth during the year dropped to 8.06 percent, a 6-year low rate of growth, according to Petroleum Planning and Planning Cell (PPAC), the statistical arm of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) Petrol usage in 2018-2019 stood at 282,84 thousand Tonne, as compared to 261,74 thousand Tonne recorded in the previous financial year (2017-2018). Cumulative Petroleum Demand Overall, India’s petroleum product consumption in 2018-2019 rose 2.65 percent to 2,116,40 thousand tonnes, as compared to 2,06,166 thousand tonnes recorded in the previous fiscal. The growth of 2.65 percent was the lowest recorded in the past five years. This was mainly due to a slump in the consumption of polluting fuels including Pet Coke, Fuel Oil, and Kerosene. “Growth was pulled down by negative growth witnessed in Petcoke (-20.2 percent) and FO (-3 percent) due to regulatory restrictions, and continuing de-growth in SKO due to conscious policy of GoI. Otherwise, auto fuels continued to exhibit healthy growth rates with MS and HSD posting 8% and 3% respectively,” K Ravichandran, Senior Vice President at ICRA told ETEnergyWorld. He added that India’s petroleum products consumption is projected to grow 3-4 percent in the present financial year ending March 2020. “There will continue to be headwinds in the growth on polluting fuels such as petcoke and FO. SKO will be gradually replaced by LPG, while transportation fuels and LPG will exhibit robust growth,” Ravichandran said. DIESEL India’s diesel consumption in March 2019 rose by a marginal 1.38 percent to 7,451 thousand tonnes, as compared to 7,349 thousand tonnes recorded in the corresponding month a year ago. According to PPAC, the slight increase in diesel use in the month was attributed to increased infrastructure works across the country in anticipation of general elections and the opening of new mines in Nagaland and Jharkhand. Cumulatively, diesel consumption during the full financial year 2018-2019 increased 3 percent to 835,20 thousand tonnes, as compared to 810,73 thousand tonnes recorded in the previous fiscal. Elections boost India’s petrol use to highest-ever LPG & ATF Cumulative demand for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in 2018-2019 increased 6.8 percent to 249,18 thousand tonnes, as compared to 233,42 thousand tonnes recorded in the previous financial year. Also, Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) consumption last financial year grew 9.1 percent to 8,325 thousand tonnes, aided by an over 13 percent increase in domestic passenger traffic.
Exxon, Qatar to start construction on Texas Golden Pass LNG export plant
Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum told the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday they would start construction of the $10 billion-plus Golden Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Texas on May 13: * Exxon and Qatar Petroleum made a final investment decision to build the project in February and expect the project to enter service in 2024. * Golden Pass is designed to produce around 16 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG, equivalent to about 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas. * One billion cubic feet is enough gas for about 5 million U.S. homes for a day. * Qatar Petroleum owns 70 percent of the project, while Exxon owns 30 percent. * Enable Midstream Partners LP has said it expects to complete the Gulf Run pipeline to transport gas to Golden Pass in late 2022. * Golden Pass selected McDermott International Inc, Chiyoda Corp and Zachry Group to build the project. * After exporting no LNG at the start of 2016, the United States is expected to become the third biggest LNG exporter in the world in 2019 behind Australia and Qatar. * The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected U.S. LNG exports will rise to an average of 5.3 bcfd in 2019 and 7.4 bcfd in 2020 from 3.0 bcfd in 2018. LNG exports in 2018 were worth about $3.5 billion. * Looking at just 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 bcfd by the end of 2020, up from 5.2 bcfd now.
Sinopec, CNPC skip Iran oil buys for May as sanctions waivers end: Sources
China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country’s top state-owned refiners, are skipping Iranian oil buys for May loadings, after Washington ended sanction waivers to turn up pressure on Tehran, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. The United States has decided not to renew any exemptions for sanctions on Iran, taking a tougher line than expected on the expiry of the waivers. The waivers were granted last November to buyers of Iranian oil. China is Iran’s largest oil customer with imports at 475,000 barrels a day in the first quarter of this year, according to Chinese customs data. Sinopec and CNPC have skipped bookings for cargoes loading in May as companies were worried that taking oil from Iran could invoke U.S. sanctions and cut them out of the global financial system, said two of the sources.
Royal Dutch Shell to invest $2-bn per year in Brazil
Royal Dutch Shell has plans to invest about $2 billion per year in Brazil through 2025, CEO Ben van Beurden told newspaper Valor Economico in an exclusive interview. Its investment plans could be increased to allow the company to bid in three upcoming oil and gas auctions, Valor reported in its Thursday edition based on the interview. Royal Dutch Shell will not focus exclusively on oil projects, the report said. It is interested in exploring opportunities in natural gas, biofuels and the solar energy sector, Valor said. Refineries are not part of the strategy, Valor reported. Shell’s press office was not immediately available to comment on the report.
Libya plans to increase oil output from existing fields to 1.4 million bpd this year
Libya plans to increase oil output from existing fields to 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of 2019 and 2.1 million bpd by 2023, state-run National Oil Corp. said on its website on Thursday. The company cited a speech by its chairman, Mustafa Sanalla at a conference Houston, in which he also cautioned that the ongoing war in the North African nation could jeopardise the expansion.
Saudi Aramco offers to increase oil supply to India
The world’s largest oil company Aramco will provide additional crude oil to domestic oil refiners to meet shortages arising from the US decision to lift Iran sanction waivers from major oil importing countries, including India. Sources in state-run oil companies said that the Saudi Arabian oil giant has offered to increase crude oil supplies to India by 200,000 barrels a day (bpd) that would meet almost half of the country’s oil imports that was coming from Iran. On an annual basis, 200,000 bpd of oil equals about 10 million tonnes (mt) of oil per year. India imported 23.9 mt of crude oil from Iran in FY19, making the Gulf country the third biggest exporter of oil after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Aramco’s offer to Indian oil companies is for deliveries starting June. The oil situation is also expected to get clearer from June when the full might of US sanctions would come into play. Though US sanction waiver was lifted from May 2, India is still getting some oil from Iran on contracts reached earlier. Sources said that while the Saudi offer of increased oil quantity has generally been welcomed by domestic oil companies as it will help alleviate the squeeze driven by US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, the supply is unlikely to be made on terms given by Iran. In fact, refiners would face a heftier bill on Arab light crude. Iran used to offer Indian refiners 60-day credit for oil deliveries and also gave discounts on freight and insurance. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, charges an Asian premium for its crude oil exports to India. It is for this reason that India has been expanding the list of oil source markets to prevent disruptions in one part of the world from affecting its supplies. India imports more than 80 percent of its oil requirements and it is thus imperative for it to ensure that supply lines are maintained at all times. With Iran and Venezuela, which is the fifth largest supplier of crude to India, coming under US sanctions, India has also started exploring higher oil imports from other Latin American countries such as Brazil and Mexico with which it has shared a healthy economic relationship. Indian oil companies are also exploring raising imports from African countries and looking at the US shale oil option. According to data from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Iraq sold 46.61 mt crude oil to India during FY19, which is two percent more than the 45.74 mt it had supplied in FY18. This helped Iraq to become the top oil exporter to India. India provisionally imported 207.3 mt of crude oil in FY19, down from 220.4 mt in the previous financial year. Saudi Arabia has traditionally been India’s top oil source, but it came second in FY19. In 2018, Saudi Arabia exported 40.33 mt oil, up from 36.16 mt oil sold in the previous year. Iran, on the other hand, sold 23.9 mt of crude in FY19, up from 22.59 mt in the previous year. UAE topped Venezuela to become India’s fourth-largest crude supplier. It sold 17.49 mt of crude oil to India in FY19 against 17.32 mt of oil coming from Venezuela.
ExxonMobil to invest up to $100 million on lower-emissions R&D with US national labs
Multinational oil and gas giant ExxonMobil today said it will invest up to $100 million over 10 years in research and development of advanced lower-emissions technologies with the U S Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory. The agreement – among the largest between the department’s laboratories and the private sector – will support ways to bring biofuels and carbon capture and storage to commercial scale across the transportation, power generation and industrial sectors. “We’re focusing on advancing fundamental science to develop breakthrough solutions that can make a difference on a global basis in emissions reduction,” said Darren W. Woods, chairman and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil. The partnership focus on technologies related to energy efficiency and greenhouse gas mitigation. The joint research will also focus on reducing emissions from fuels and petrochemicals production. The agreement will stimulate collaborative projects between ExxonMobil and the two laboratories and facilitate work with other national laboratories, such as the Idaho National Lab.
Rahul promises to bring petrol, diesel under GST
Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that key petroleum products will be brought under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to lower inflation if the party came to power after the Lok Sabha elections. “We are aware that the common man is distressed due to rising prices. In order to provide relief to them, Congress will bring petrol and diesel under GST, which will help in checking rising inflation,” Gandhi said in a Facebook post.
Norwegian oil companies seek mediation after wage talks break down
Wage talks between Norwegian oil firms and their employees broke down on Thursday, setting the stage for mediation later this year in order to prevent a strike, Norwegian Oil and Gas (NOG) said on Thursday. While Norway’s collective bargaining rules prevent the two largest unions involved in the talks from going on strike this year, the smaller of the three, representing close to 1,000 workers, has the right to do so if no deal is ultimately reached. NOG is an industry organisation that is negotiating on behalf of the country’s oil firms, including top producer Equinor.