Page 19 - AsianOil Week 40

AsianOil NRG AsianOil

Nord Stream 2 movement Between August and the end of the year,
The Akademik Cherskiy, a Russian pipelaying though, Russia is required to produce no more
vessel that Gazprom is widely expected to use than 8.993mn bpd of oil. Gas extraction was up
to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Ger- 7.9% m/m in September, and condensate flow
many, is on the move after remaining moored at typically rises and falls depending on gas extrac-
the German port of Mukran for months. tion levels.
The vessel has moved into open waters in
the Baltic Sea, ship-tracking data from Marine If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Traffic and Vesselfinder show, but its current the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please
destination is not disclosed. Its current speed click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor.
is minimal. Fortuna, another Russian-flagged
vessel anticipated to provide Cherskiy with sup- Vietnamese city approves LNG projects
port, moved from the German ports of Rostock Authorities representing the Vietnamese
to Wismar on September 29-30, according to the port city of Haiphong have approved an LNG
data. import terminal that has been proposed
Work on Nord Stream 2, which will carry by ExxonMobil to serve as part of a $5.1bn
up to 55bn cubic metres per year of Russian gas gas-to-power project. On the same day, the
to northern Germany, was halted in December Haiphong People’s Committee also approved
2019 after the US imposed sanctions on the another LNG-to-power project that is esti-
project. This forced Swiss contractor Allseas to mated to cost $1.9bn.
abandon pipelaying, leaving just 6% of Nord The approvals come as a growing number of
Stream 2’s offshore section uncompleted. Asian countries are building new LNG import
The Russian authorities have said they will capacity in order to meet rising demand for natural
use their own pipelaying ships to finish the job, gas and lessen their dependence on more polluting
although they have not identified specific vessels. fuel such as coal. Indeed, the Institute of Energy of
Cherskiy’s departure from Mukran comes Vietnam is in the process of drafting a new master
after the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) on Octo- power development plan. It has compiled a list of
ber 1 issued a permit to the Gazprom-owned 22 potential LNG-to-power projects with a com-
Nord Stream 2 company to operate the pipeline. bined capacity of up to 108.5 GW, the first of which
The DEA awarded a construction permit around is anticipated to enter service by 2023.
a year ago, after a lengthy delay. The ExxonMobil project would begin gener-
Russian oil and condensate production ating power by 2026-27, with an initial capacity
was up 0.6% month on month in September at of 2.25 GW that would be expanded to 4.5 GW
9.93mn barrels per day (bpd), preliminary data by 2029-30. The Vietnamese government said
from the country’s energy ministry shows. Rus- earlier this year that LNG for the project could
sia’s compliance with its OPEC+ quota is difficult be imported from the US. Indeed, ExxonMobil
to determine, as that quota only covers oil, but is currently building the Golden Pass LNG ter-
the ministry does not provide a breakdown for minal on the US Gulf Coast in partnership with
crude and condensate. Qatar Petroleum (QP).

Week 40 08•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19