Page 10 - GLNG Week 30

GLNG AUstRAlAsiA GLNG
Australian study backs LNG performance
PoliCy
A new scienti c study using commercial data from an active Australian lique ed natural gas (LNG) project has found that using natural gas instead of coal in Australia’s power sector could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to half. e report, published by CSIRO’s Gas Indus- try Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA) on July 29, may not be groundbreak- ing, but it is the rst ever study to use commercial data from an active coal-bed methane (CBM) to LNG project in Queensland in its research.
CSIROsaid:“Auniquefeatureoftheresearch is the use of commercial-in-confidence data from a [CBM] to LNG project in the Surat Basin, Queensland [providing] for the rst time accurate estimates of whole of life [GHG] emissions asso- ciated with CSG-LNG operations in Australia.”
e report noted that switching from black thermal coal to Queensland CBM for local power generation using high-e ciency closed cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) could reduce GHG emissions by around 50%. is consideration is based on the gas production and treatment but excludes the liquefaction, shipping and regasi cation pro- cesses required to export gas to Asian markets.
CSIRO added that GHG emissions stemming
from production, treatment and liquefaction of the CBM represented 1.4% of the unnamed pro- ject’s likely future production, which was pegged at 576 PJ (15bn cubic metres) per year. The primary source of emissions in the CBG-LNG supply chain within Australia relates to on-site gas-fired power generation that supports the extraction and liquefaction process.
CSIRO said: “Outside Australia, the primary [activity] contributing to emissions [was the] combustion of natural gas, which represented 83%oftotalemissionswhenallprocessesfrom wellhead through liquefaction, shipping, regasi- cation and combustion were considered.”
GISERA director Damian Barrett said: “ e climate bene ts of using natural gas in place of thermal coal for electricity generation are gen- erally accepted when fugitive emissions are less than 3% of total production. Results of this latest research underline the potential climate bene ts of using gas in place of coal to generate electricity, particularly when using high-e ciency CCGTs.”
APPEA CEO Andrew McConville said CSIRO’s findings confirmed the key role gas plays in lowering GHG emissions in both the domestic and export markets.™
PNG ready to rewrite Papua LNG contract
PoliCy
PAPUA New Guinea (PNG) Petroleum Min- ister Kerenga Kua has said a natural gas deal the government signed with the Papua LNG development consortium could be rewritten if a review nds that its terms were unfavorable to the country. e deal was agreed in April by for- mer prime minister Peter O’Neill, who resigned in May rather than face a no-con dence vote. e Papua LNG agreement has since been put under review.
“Any signatory to a contract can, any time after an agreement has been signed, go back to the negotiating table if they are, as an a er- thought, unsatis ed with certain aspects of the terms and conditions of the contract,” Kua told Reuters on July 25. “Our approach is purely com- mercial in nature.”
Prime Minister James Marape appointed Kua to his position on June 6. e new petroleum minister has been a vocal critic of the Papua LNG agreement signed with Total, Oil Search and state-owned Kumul Petroleum.
The partners are working towards a final investment decision (FID), targeted for 2020. e gas agreement underpins a proposed two-train development, with total capacity of 5.4mn tonnes per year (tpy). Kua did not say which of the deal’s termsmightchange,butReutersnotedthatthe
review still had a “few more weeks” to run.
“We, as a government, have opted to re-look at the [Papua LNG] agreement because it was signed at a time when we were in the throes, or in the process, of changing the government,” Kua said. “By consultation, you will be able to test the threshold of tolerance and then nd that balance. But as leaders of this country, we listen to our
people rst.”
Kua’s comments are the latest in a line of
statements indicating his desire for terms to be renegotiated in the government’s favour. In an interview that the Australian Financial Review published on June 6, Kua said: “We will come to a position that everyone is comfortable with without disrupting business. But [we will] ensure there is an equitable distribution of benefits which come out of these resource projects.”
Following the petroleum minister’s latest comments, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne urged the government to respect the agreement. “I believe that these types of agreements are signed with countries, so we expect the new govern- ment to respect it,” Pouyanne told analysts dur- ing a conference call. “We are con dent that it is in the best interest of PNG to respect the agree- ments that have been signed in order to move forwardwiththeproject.”™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 30 01•August•2019