Page 11 - AsianOil Week 11

AsianOil
EAST ASIA AsianOil
on marketing LNG and developing gas-fired power generation and bunkering operations.
Novatek’s goal is to cut costs and also gain a larger foothold in Asia’s growing gas markets.
China’s largest oil and gas producer, Pet- roChina, predicted in January that the coun- try’s gas demand would expand by 8.6% year on year in 2020 to 330bn cubic metres, after increasing by 9.9% in 2019 to 308 bcm. While this projection was made before the coronavirus
(COVID-19) shut down much of the country’s economic activity, and forced the country’s gas importers to either trigger force majeure clauses in their contracts or defer shipments, China is beginning to ramp up its industrial and com- mercial activity.
While demand may miss PetroChina’s initial projections, the likelihood is that the govern- ment’s efforts to tackle air pollution will still lead to material consumption gains this year.™
Gazprom shuts down Power of Siberia for maintenance
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
RUSSIA’S Gazprom has shut down the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to China for two weeks of routine maintenance, the company reported on March 16.
The pipeline, which pumps gas from the Chayandinskoye field in Yakutia to China, will resume operations on April 1, Gazprom was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency.
Gazprom has worked out a schedule for the maintenance with China’s CNPC, which buys gas from Power of Siberia under a 30-year deal signed in 2014. The pair previ- ously agreed on maintenance being carried out on the pipeline twice a year in spring and autumn.
Power of Siberia was launched in December 2019 and is capable of delivering 38bn cubic metres per year of gas to the Chinese market. It will not reach this capacity until 2025, however,
and to date has only flowed around 900mn cubic metres of gas.
Maintenance is typically timed to coincide with a lull in gas demand. China has reduced its gas imports over the past two months in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- demic’s impact on consumption.
Beijing’s state gas importers have declared forces majeure on their supply contracts in an attempt to push back shipments without incurring penalties. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have reported receiv- ing such notices, but Gazprom said on March 5 it had not. Turkmenistan, China’s biggest gas sup- plier, has not commented on the matter.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced last week that, starting in May, a tariff of CNY0.1825 ($0.0261) would be applied on Power of Siberia’s gas when it enters China.™
Week 11 19•March•2020 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P11