Page 15 - GLNG Week 49

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Malaysia looks to boost gas consumption

PERFORMANCE MALAYSIA has begun looking at ways of reduc- Lumpur is still drafting the NGR, which is part of
ing its coal consumption in favour of natural gas, the National Energy Policy (NEP), and expects
with one senior government official saying gas to release it in the first quarter of 2021.
demand could rise once a new energy roadmap Mustapa said: “Malaysia is one of the biggest
is launched next year. gas exporters. In fact, we are [among] the top
Malaysian Minister of the Economy Mustapa five in the world in exports and top 20 in terms
Mohamed said last week that the country would of gas reserves. In terms of consumption, we
play a “more active role” in gas and LNG produc- export most of our gas, about 70%. With this new
tion and consumption. roadmap and policy, Malaysia would like to take
“Like every other country in the world, we are a more active role.”
aiming for a reduction in coal consumption as The president of the Malaysian Gas Asso-
way to derive energy, as coal is still the biggest ciation (MGA), Hazli Sham Kassim, said on
component in our energy mix. Moving forward, December 4 that he expected the roadmap
gas, hopefully, will play an important role,” the to mirror other leading gas producers’ policy
New Straits Times quoted Mohamed as saying initiatives.
on December 3. “MGA has been calling for NGR to be devel-
The minister, who was speaking at the close oped since 2018 in order to future-proof the
of an industry event, said that while the coun- [gas] industry by ensuring security of supply,
try exports most of its gas, the government’s increasing demand and liberalising the market.
Natural Gas Roadmap (NGR) could lead to We eagerly look forward [to] its release in 1Q,”
higher domestic consumption of the fuel. Kuala the Edge Markets quoted him as saying.™

Kogas carries out ship-to-ship LNG

bunkering test in world first

PIPELINES & IN a world first, Korea Gas (KOGAS) success- The test was carried
TRANSPORT fully carried out a ship-to-ship LNG bunkering out at DSME’s Okpo
test in late November. A KOGAS LNG carrier, Shipyard.
SM Jeju LNG2, was connected to a new LNG
carrier built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine
Engineering (DSME) with a capacity of 174,000
cubic metres for the test, supplying it with the
super-chilled fuel.
The test was carried out at DSME’s Okpo
Shipyard on the island of Geojedo off South
Korea’s southern coast over November 24-26.
“We believe this is a significant first step in
creating and making a very successful market
for LNG bunkering in the future,” KOGAS was
quoted by South Korean media as saying. Glovis to set up an LNG bunkering joint venture.
Typically, when a new LNG carrier is built Through this partnership, KOGAS is aiming to
in South Korea, it has to travel 6-24 hours from supply 1.36mn tonnes of LNG for ships by 2030.
a shipyard to onshore LNG terminals in Pyeo- The Korean Register (KR) of Shipping, a clas-
ngtaek Gyeonggi Province, Samcheock, Gang- sification society, was also closely involved in the
won Province or Tongyeong to conduct LNG bunkering test, with media reporting this week
bunkering tests. Ship-to-ship transfers can help that it is working to help develop standards for
speed this process, reduce the costs involved and LNG bunkering in South Korea. KR and DSME
ease congestion at these LNG terminals, which signed an MoU on collaboration on research
become crowded with vessels offloading gas dur- into LNG bunkering in August.
ing the winter heating season. KR is reported to have identified a diverse
The bunkering milestone comes after range of potential hazards through its risk assess-
KOGAS announced in July that it was partner- ments for ship-to-ship LNG loading and trans-
ing with Busan Port, steel-maker Posco, refiner port operations, and has reportedly suggested
S-Oil, Daewoo Logistics and shipper Hyundai ways to reduce that risk to DSME.™

Week 49 11•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15