Page 10 - AsianOil Week 18
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AsianOil EAST ASIA AsianOil
G3E’s receivers turn off the gas at Chinese block
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
PRIVATELY owned G3 Exploration (G3E) has revealed that its receivers have suspended production from assets in the Shizhuang South (GSS) coal-bed methane block.
The receivers, who are also acting as directors of subsidiary Greka Energy, directed that gas flows be reduced by around 150, 000 cubic metres per day during the Chinese Labour Day holidays which run between May 1 and May 5, G3E said on May 4. G3E said the decision had left some villages with- out gas and electricity supplies, prompting local authorities to call for an immediate resumption of production and supply.
G3E chairman Randeep S Grewal said: “I am disappointed to report such actions and sad- dened to see the local town and village citizens being deprived of basic gas and electricity supply. We are attempting to restore gas production as soon as possible.”
He added: “The [joint provisional liquida- tors] JPLs and the company continue to be com- mitted to support the re-financing or asset sales completed so as to pay off the debt outstanding to GIC and Nordic bond holders.”
Nordic Bondholder Trustee appointed the receivers last year after G3E continued to default on a bond that matured in November 2017.
G3E said on January 2 that the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands had appointed JPLs to identify any restructuring and refi- nancing opportunities for the company. G3E has previously flagged up that the repayment of an intergroup loan as allowing it to repay all of its debts.
G3E said on March 16 that the JPLs had completed and filed on March 13 their second report to court on the prospects of the group’s on-going viability.
OCEANIA
Woodside wins Australia’s first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering licences
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
THE Pilbara Port Authority (PPA) has issued Aus- tralia’s first ship-to-ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering licences to Woodside Petroleum.
The PPA and Woodside have executed non-exclusive licences to provide ship-to-ship LNG bunkering services at the Western Austral- ian ports of Port Hedland and Dampier, LNG Marine Fuel Institute (LNG MFI) CEO Margot Matthews said on May 5.
PPA’s general manager of development and trade, Lyle Banks, said: “Western Australia is well placed to become an LNG bunkering hub, with LNG produc- tion facilities close to large iron ore mining operations and the many hundreds of ocean-going vessels that use ports in the Pilbara region.”
He added that in addition to the two Woodside licences, PPA had only awarded one other LNG bunkering contract in the Pilbara.
PPA awarded a truck-to-ship LNG bunkering licence to Evol LNG in early 2017, paving the way for Australia and the southern hemisphere’s first ever LNG bunkering operation to take place in January 23.
Under an agreement with Woodside, service provider EVOL LNG successfully refuelled a marine support vessel at King Bay Supply Base near the Port of Dampier.
Woodside’s executive vice-president of mar- keting, trading and shipping Reinhardt Matisons described the finalisation of the most recent bunkering licences “as a key step in developing an LNG fuels industry” in WA.
He added: “Woodside is finalising plans for an LNG bunkering operation in the Pilbara to capture the significant environmental and eco- nomic benefits of using LNG, instead of fuel oil, for the busy iron ore shipping trade.”
There is growing demand for LNG bunkering facilities, as the global shipping industry turns towards the fuel as a cleaner alternative to fuel oil. The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) new emissions standards for marine fuels came into force on January 1, requiring ships to cap sulphur content in their fuel to 0.5%.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 18 07•May•2020
