Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 13 2021

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

global availability, because of the price, because industry remains shut down because of the coro-
of the safety standards … Somewhere we have navirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but there are
hydrogen, somewhere we have ammonia, some- hopes that it could soon restart. And in the
where we have methanol. And together this will meantime, Canaveral Port Authority Commis-
make the global fuel mix,” he said. This was sion’s chairman, Wayne Justice, described LNG
alluded to by Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser as “the fuel of the future”.
in an earnings call last week when he suggested The Q-LNG 4000 is also the first LNG bun-
that the company would skip the development of kering ATB to be launched anywhere in the US.
LNG capabilities altogether in order to build out Its launch comes as Shell pursues its ambition of
its blue ammonia capabilities. reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-
Meanwhile, according to Fereidun Fesharaki, sions by 2050 or sooner. The barge is intended to
chairman at FGE, in order for the 2050 emissions complement Shell’s existing global network of six
target to be met, demand for oil-based marine LNG bunker vessels.
fuel would need to peak by 2025, at which point, In Canada, meanwhile, LNG bunkering is
there is scope for significant growth in LNG also gaining traction. In February, Cryopeak
demand. FGE anticipates that LNG bunkering LNG Solutions confirmed that it was moving
demand for non-LNG carriers will reach 15mn ahead with the launch of Canada’s first LNG
tpy by 2030, increasing to 27mn tpy by 2040. ATB. The vessel, which is due to enter service by
The availability of LNG is likely to give it 2023, will offer LNG bunkering and small-scale
a head start on its competitors and as Qatar distribution in North America’s Pacific North-
increases liquefaction from new phases of the west. This comes after Cryopeak went out to
supergiant North Dome gas field, this will keep shipyards in Europe and Asia in December 2020
growing, while efforts by Iran to develop its own in an effort to gather cost estimates for the con-
gas export infrastructure may yet bear signifi- struction of the 4,000 cubic metre bunker barge.
cant fruit. Prior to that, in December, the Hamilton-Os-
hawa Port Authority (HOPA) in Ontario, Can-
North America ada, announced an LNG bunkering operation
LNG bunkering is on the rise across North that was hailed as the first in the Great Lakes
America, with various developments playing out region.
recently in both the US and Canada. These piecemeal efforts offer a good illustra-
On March 19, Russia’s Sovcomflot and Royal tion of how LNG bunkering is being rolled out
Dutch Shell marked the first ever ship-to-ship across the US. It is happening gradually, with
bunkering operation using LNG for an Aframax individual ports driving progress as they receive
tanker in the US. According to Sovcomflot’s bunkering vessels and infrastructure.
statement, its Gagarin Prospect vessel, which is Indeed, the HOPA noted in its December
on long-term charter to Shell, was en route from announcement that the only LNG capacity
Corpus Christi to Europe. The ship received at ports in Canada currently exists along the
1,075 cubic metres of marine LNG from the west coast in BC and the St Lawrence River
Shell NA LNG-chartered Q-LNG 4000 outside in Montreal and Quebec City. This is despite
the Port of Canaveral, Florida. the fact that the role of LNG as a marine fuel is
The announcement came shortly after Port being increasingly being talked up as compa-
Canaveral announced the arrival of the Q-LNG nies and countries alike consider their options
4000, saying that the articulated tug barge (ATB) for decarbonising. As Cryopeak’s plans for the
was helping to position it as North America’s ATB illustrate, adopting LNG bunkering will
first LNG cruise port. This comes as the cruising take time. ™

The Sovcomflot-owned
Gagarin Prospect
Aframax was bunkered
with LNG by a Shell-
chartered vessel in
Florida in mid-March.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 13 01•April•2021