Page 10 - GLNG Week 25

GLNG asia GLNG
Samsung wins Vietnamese regas work
PRojECts & CoMPaniEs
SAMSUNG C&T has won work on the i Vai LNG terminal, in Vietnam. e South Korean company signed the deal on June 24. It has teamed up with a local company, Petrovietnam Technical Services, for the work, which was awarded by Petrovietnam Gas (PV Gas).
is will be the rst LNG terminal to be con- structed in Vietnam. Construction should take 40 months. Work will begin at the end of June and should be completed by october 2022, Sam- sung C&T said. e Vietnamese company said it would be ready for commercial operations ahead of a domestic shortfall, which was expected to emerge towards the end of 2023.
e total value of the work is $179.5 million, while Samsung C&T said its share was 61%, or $109.5 million.
The Petrovietnam unit said it would have capacity of 1 million tonnes per year (tpy) and would play a key role in supplying gas to con- sumers in the region, particularly the Nhon Trach 3 and 4 plants. It will have a 180,000 cubic metre storage tank and jetty.
PV Gas signed a framework agreement in January to supply LNG to the Nhon Trach plants, with Petrovietnam Power (PV Power). e two
plants require investment of $1.45 billion and will produce 750-800 MW each. is statement raised the prospect of expanding the i Vai ter- minal to 3 million tpy by 2025.
e January plan, on the supply of LNG to Nhon Trach, was approved on June 21 by PV Gas.
The country produced 9.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in 2018, down from its peak of 10.3 bcm in 2015. All its gas production is con- sumed locally and the power sector is of particu- lar interest. oil production is also declining. e government-backed companies have projected Vietnam will be short 2 bcm per year of gas by 2024, absent LNG imports. is shortage would increase to 7 bcm in 2030 and 9 bcm by 2035.
PV Gas signed a memorandum of under- standing (MoU) on the Son My terminal with the Alaska LNG backers in 2017, during a visit by US President donald Trump. Given the Alaskan project looks unlikely to go ahead – partly as a result of the US-China trade war – the import terminal appeared less attractive.
Samsung C&T noted this was part of its con- tinuing LNG work in Southeast Asia, which also included work in Singapore and Malaysia.™
Co-oPERation:
Novatek, total, siemens and Zarubezhneft signed a preliminary agreement on co-operating in Vietnam in early
June. this focused on developing “an integrated energy-generating project” in the southeast Asian state using lNG.
Novatek ships first cargo to Japan
PERfoRManCE
NoVATEK has shipped a rst cargo of LNG to Japan, the Russian independent gas company said on June 26. e cargo was delivered under a long-term o ake agreement with Total. It was delivered to the Tobata LNG terminal.
“Commencing LNG shipments to the Japa- nese market represents an important milestone for the company as Japan is an important LNG market and one of the priority destinations in our LNG marketing strategy,” said Novatek’s chairman, Leonid Mikhelson.
Japan has played a critical role in the development of Russia’s LNG supplies in the Sakhalin region. While Yamal LNG is further away, it is evident that the Asian market is critical, even if deliveries are required to use the Northern Sea Route (NSR), or face a long round trip.
e main emphasis for Novatek and its LNG developments has been China. Chinese com- panies are invested in both Yamal LNG and the proposed Arctic LNG 2 plan, which should reach nal investment decision (FId) this year.
Japan, though, is the largest LNG importer in the world, taking around 83 million tonnes in 2018, while China’s imports hit 53.7 million tonnes. While Japan’s demand is on the way
down, Chinese consumption is increasing. Novatek’s Asian expansion would benefit from its plans for transhipment terminal, in Kamchatka. is would allow the company to use its ice-breaking LNG carriers (LNGCs) in the sea areas where such equipment is neces- sary and o oad cargoes to be carried onward by
cheaper LNGCs.
Commenting this week, Mikhelson high-
lighted the importance of the NSR and the Kam- chatka terminal, which would “expand LNG supplies to Japan as well as strengthen trade and economic links between our respective countries”.
In addition to this transhipment terminal plan, though, Novatek has also signed a deal with Japan’s Saibu Gas on using the Hibiki LNG terminal. e company said this would allow it to “diversify our customer base and increase the exibility of deliveries to the premium LNG markets”.
e Yamal LNG plant reached full capac- ity at its three trains in december 2018, with a smaller fourth train due to start up at the end of this year. during 2018, the plant sent its rst cargo to Brazil in September, to China in July, to Spain in June and to India in March.™
EuRoPE
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 25 27•June•2019