Page 11 - GLNG Week 05 2022

GLNG EUROPE GLNG

Equinor warns of further

Hammerfest LNG delay

PROJECTS & EQUINOR has warned of a further delay in the Haave said. “We are pleased with the good
COMPANIES restart of the Hammerfest LNG plant in Nor- co-operation we have with the Hammerfest
way’s far north, dashing hopes that the terminal municipality, employee representatives, safety
would help ease supply constraints in Europe at delegates and suppliers. Now it is all about com-
the tail-end of winter. pleting the job together.”
Hammerfest LNG had to be closed in Sep- The lengthy downtime at Hammerfest LNG
tember 2020 after a serious fire tore through the has deprived Europe of gas supply at a time
facility, requiring extensive repairs and recon- when the continent is struggling through an
struction. Equinor initially hoped to have the unprecedented energy crisis. Wholesale gas
4.2mn tonne per year (tpy) plant back up and prices have surged to record highs in recent
running by October last year, but later postponed weeks, and storage facilities are now less than
the relaunch after mapping out the extent of the 40% full.
damage. Europe is now scouring for alternative gas
In a statement on January 31, the Norwegian supplies in the event that deliveries from Rus-
state producer said progress had been affected sia, the continent’s top supplier, are disrupted
by coronavirus (COVID-19) infections and the because of military action in Ukraine. Supply
efforts to contain them. At times, half of work- from Hammerfest LNG would have helped
ers had to be placed in quarantine and isola- replenish storage facilities in April.
tion, plant manager Thor Johan Haave said. As The delay will result in Norwegian gas sup-
a result, the restart date has been pushed back ply trialling projections during spring. It has
from March 31 until May 17, 2022. beaten forecasts in the last few months, reaching
“The project work is nearing completion and 353.1mn cubic metres per day in December, or
we’re doing what we can to finish the project,” 5.7% above the level projected.™

PGNiG ships second US

LNG cargo to Ukraine

POLICY POLAND’S state gas company PGNiG has deliv- “The new LNG deal adds to PGNiG and
ered a second cargo of US LNG to Ukraine, the ERU’s efforts in supporting the long-term energy
company reported on February 1. independence of Ukraine, by developing new
The cargo has been sold to US-backed energy gas production through joint gas exploration
investor Energy Resources of Ukraine (ERU) and production,” he said.
and will be sent to Poland’s Swinoujscie LNG PGNiG dispatched its first cargo of US LNG
terminal at the end of February. From there, it to Ukraine in late 2019. Ukraine relies on gas
will be sent via the Polish gas grid to the Ukrain- from Poland as well as Hungary and Slovakia to
ian border. supplement its domestic supply. These deliveries
“This is yet another delivery of American have allowed the country to forego buying any
LNG to Ukraine made by PGNiG in co-oper- gas from Russia in more than six years.
ation with ERU, which is our strategic trading Poland is working to expand its LNG import
partner on the Ukrainian gas market,” PGNiG capacity and it is building a new pipeline from
president Pawel Majewski said. “Good relations Norway, which would enable it to forego Rus-
built over the years are particularly important sian imports itself. Its hope is that any excess gas
now, at a time of great turbulence on the gas capacity could be used for transiting supplies to
market in Europe.” Ukraine and other countries in Europe.
ERU’s managing partner Yaroslav Mudriy PGNiG is also assisting ERU in gas develop-
added that the delivery of competitive gas from ment in west Ukraine. The company in Septem-
the US would “support Ukrainian customers’ ber last year bought a licence from ERU for gas
resilience and safety of supply in the remaining exploration, and plans to begin drilling there
months of winter.” later in 2022.™

Week 05 04•February•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11