Page 7 - AfrOil Week 03 2021

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The Institute for Energy Economics and Finan- The Bangladeshi government, meanwhile,
cial Analysis (IEEFA) released a report on Janu- has cut gas supplies to power plants but has
ary 14 suggesting that more than $50bn worth of maintained industrial supply, according to one
such projects were at risk owing to soaring spot unnamed senior official at government-run
prices in recent months. Petrobangla. The general manager of Bangla-
“Asian LNG spot prices have soared to a new desh’s Rupantarita Prakritik Gas, Rafiqul Islam,
high on the back of stronger than expected sea- said: “LNG prices have gone crazy... For the last
sonal demand for heating as freezing weather few tenders, we didn’t get any response from sup-
grips large parts of the northern hemisphere,” pliers. We are continuing our efforts to buy from
IEEFA analyst Bruce Robertson said in the the spot market ... But it is very unlikely [we will
report. “Interruptions to supply in Malaysia, get] get competitive prices in this highly volatile
Australia and the US, three of the world’s larg- market.”
est LNG exporters, and higher freight rates have
also affected prices.” If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Spot prices have soared in recent months, Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
with pricing agency S&P Global Platts reporting NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor. The Bangladeshi
on January 13 that its Asian spot LNG bench-
mark had reached a record high of $32.49 DMEA: Qatar raises climate ambitions government
mmBtu ($898.67 per 1,000 cubic metres) the Qatar Petroleum (QP) launched a new sus-
previous day. tainability strategy last week, targeting a 25% has cut gas
Robertson argued: “Higher and volatile LNG reduction in the emissions intensity of its LNG
prices will make operating LNG-powered gen- facilities by 2030. supplies to
eration plants more costly and unpredictable. The national gas company is among a number power plants but
This may lead to the underutilisation of LNG of LNG exporters across the world taking steps
plants and rising gas and electricity tariffs for to address their environmental impact, as inves- has maintained
customers.” tors and buyers grow increasingly climate-con-
The analyst warned that LNG prices were scious. The world’s biggest LNG producer is also industrial supply
likely to trend upwards as volatility gripped the looking to cut its upstream emissions by at least
market, owing to “lower levels of drilling, finan- 15% and reduce flaring intensity by over 75%
cial instability in the oil and gas industry, and within ten years. It has set its emissions level in
low levels of industry investment”. His warning 2013 as a baseline for the cuts.
came just days before Reuters reported that both QP aims to sequester 7mn tonnes per year
Pakistan and Bangladesh had begun rationing (tpy) of its CO2 emissions by 2027. Its equity
gas supplies amid the price spike. upstream emissions reached 28.1mn tonnes
“The current gas crisis being faced by the of CO2 equivalent in 2019, while total emis-
[Pakistani] industry includes disconnection of sions were 39.1mn tonnes. The company
gas supply to industries as well as low gas pres- hopes to leverage its very low costs to invest in
sure,” Trade and Industry Association of Karachi CO2 without compromising too much on its
president Saleem Uz Zaman told the newswire cost-competitiveness.
on January 18. In other news, Iraq has reported nearly dou-
State-owned distributor Sui Southern Gas bling the capacity of the Sumood oil refinery in
Co. (SSGC) has warned industry associations Baiji to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) following
that it faces a supply deficit of around 200mn rehabilitation work. Eventually the government
cubic feet (5.66mn cubic metres) per day. wants to restore output to 310,000 bpd.

Week 03 20•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7