Page 9 - AsianOil Week 01 2021
P. 9

AsianOil                                      EAST ASIA                                             AsianOil


       MOL to accelerate investment




       in LNG-fuelled vessels




        PIPELINES &      JAPANESE shipping company Mitsui OSK  pandemic, he said.
        TRANSPORT        Lines (MOL) said on January 5 that it would   It is unsurprising that MOL’s LNG carrier
                         accelerate investment in LNG-fuelled vessels, as  business performed strongly given that demand
                         well as offshore wind power, this year as it pur-  for LNG has been picking up. Additionally, since
                         sues decarbonisation.                the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
                           “Last year, we announced to invest in LNG-  2020 rules on sulphur content in marine fuel
                         fuelled car carriers and Capesize bulkers. This  were brought in, there has also been a growing
                         year, we will not only accelerate investment in  interest in LNG as a bunkering fuel.
                         LNG-fuelled vessels, but also invest in low-/  Hashimoto said his company was progress-
                         de-carbonisation businesses such as offshore  ing toward the introduction of LNG-fuelled
                         wind power,” MOL’s CEO, Takeshi Hashimoto,  vessels and had introduced a plan to expand
                         stated. “We will also step up initiatives to reduce  the fleet to 90 vessels by 2030. He described the
                         our environmental impact, by adopting the dig-  use of LNG-fuelled vessels as “the most effective
                         ital transformation and improving the vessel  measure to reduce GHG emissions at the pres-
                         operational efficiency.”             ent moment”.
                           According to Hashimoto, the LNG carrier   MOL is targeting net-zero GHG emissions
                         business “brought in steadily increasing profits”  from its operations by 2050, with an interme-
                         in 2021, while it was a tough year for the tanker  diate goal of reducing emissions intensity by
                         business. The very large crude carrier (VLCC)  around 45% by 2035 compared with 2019 levels.
                         market saw a downturn, and ferry and cruise  The company’s environmental strategy, unveiled
                         ship businesses experienced a decrease in pas-  last year, also includes a plan to deploy net-zero
                         sengers owing to the coronavirus (COVID-19)  ocean-going vessels in the 2020s.™








       Venture Global, CNOOC strike supply deal





        PROJECTS &       THE US’ Venture Global LNG announced in  company, Sinopec, as well as a separate 3.5mn
        COMPANIES        late December that it had struck a deal to supply  tpy deal with Sinopec subsidiary Unipec cover-
                         LNG to a subsidiary of China National Offshore  ing a shorter duration.
                         Oil Corp. (CNOOC).                     Both the Sinopec and CNOOC deals illus-
                           This marks the first LNG supply agreement  trate the return of Chinese interest in buying
                         signed between CNOOC and a US exporter of  US LNG after trade between the two stalled
                         the fuel.                            amid a trade war. Chinese purchases of US LNG
                           Under the 20-year sales and purchase agree-  resumed followed the onset of the coronavirus
                         ment (SPA), Venture Global will supply 2mn  (COVID-19) pandemic and are now rising to
                         tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG to CNOOC from  record highs, buoyed by growing demand in the
                         its planned Plaquemines export terminal in Lou-  short term and the country’s decarbonisation
                         isiana. Additionally, CNOOC will buy 1.5mn tpy  push in the longer term.
                         of LNG from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass   China has set a carbon neutrality target of
                         facility for a “shorter duration”, the US company  2060 and has already been pursuing a shift from
                         said.                                coal to natural gas for some time, with LNG
                           Calcasieu Pass, which is also located in Lou-  imports playing a significant role in this. The
                         isiana, is currently undergoing commissioning  deals between Venture Global and Chinese buy-
                         ahead of commercial service starting early this  ers have been touted as being in line with this
                         year. Meanwhile, initial construction work has  decarbonisation push.
                         started at the Plaquemines LNG site, though a   “China is critical to global climate efforts,
                         final investment decision (FID) on that project  and LNG supplied by Venture Global will serve
                         has yet to be announced.             as an important addition to their low-carbon
                           CNOOC is China’s largest importer of LNG.  energy mix for decades,” Venture Global’s CEO,
                         Venture Global also recently struck two 20-year  Mike Sabel, stated in the announcement of the
                         SPAs, for 4mn tpy in total, with another Chinese  CNOOC deal.™



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