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Viva seeks partners for Victorian LNG project

PROJECTS AUSTRALIAN fuel distributor Viva Energy has partnerships with other companies that could
begun seeking potential partners for its planned support the development of both the terminal as
liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in well as the wider energy hub.
Victoria. The energy hub project includes the extension
The company said on July 6 that it was open of the refinery’s existing pier and the installation
to expressions of interest (EoIs) from companies of mooring facilities for a floating regasification
interested in helping to build the terminal, which and storage unit (FSRU), with a capacity to meet
is a key component of Viva’s proposed Geelong around half the state’s total gas demand. Potential
Energy Hub project. The company announced in gas supplies could come from existing gas export
June that it wanted to develop its existing refinery projects around Australia, with Wyatt saying:
in Geelong into an energy hub that could address “We hope to be able to bring gas from Austral-
a predicted gas supply shortfall on the country’s ian production fields to where it is needed so
east coast. that the whole country can enjoy the benefits of
The Australian Energy Market Operator our vast resources and help bring energy prices
(AEMO) has warned that Victoria could expe- down by increasing supply and competition.”
rience gas shortages from as early as 2023 – with The project will also involve laying around 6.5km
the rest of the eastern and southern states to fol- of underground pipeline to transport gas to the
low shortly thereafter. existing grid. A solar farm is slated for develop-
Viva said this week that, following the suc- ment and the company is mulling alternative fuel
cessful completion of the terminal’s initial tech- production.
nical studies, the way was clear to begin the Wyatt said: “Viva is currently assessing the
front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase feasibility to establish a solar energy farm on sur-
this year. plus refinery land and the potential for gas-fired
Company CEO Scott Wyatt said the busi- power generation and hydrogen production to
ness was looking to form commercial strategic support this emerging sector.” ™

APPEA points to IGU survey in

Australian gas price debate

POLICY AUSTRALIA’S upstream industry lobby has claims that Australian paid more for locally pro-
used a new International Gas Union (IGU) duced gas than overseas buyers.
report to counter arguments that the country’s APPEA chief executive Andrew McCon-
wholesale natural gas prices are too high. ville said: “Even before the sharp contraction
Australia’s wholesale gas price averaged $5.58 we’ve seen in gas prices this year, Australian gas
per mmBtu ($154.34 per 1,000 cubic metres) in users have enjoyed very competitive wholesale
2019, according to the IGU’s Wholesale Gas prices. The widely repeated claim that Australia’s
Price Survey 2020. The survey of 53 countries wholesale prices are higher than in the countries
showed that Australia’s price was around 40% importing our LNG has once again shown to be
less than the Asia-Pacific’s average wholesale without foundation.” McConville said: “Inter-
price, while it was just shy of being 30% cheaper estingly, the statistics show countries with the
than the Asian region’s average wholesale price. highest gas prices including Chinese Taipei,
The IGU’s survey results showed that Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and China –
South Korea and Japan paid the highest whole- well above Australia – all have successful major
sale gas price at or more than $10 per mmBtu manufacturing sectors.” While acknowledging
($276.6 per 1,000 cubic metres), while China that Australia’s wholesale prices were higher
paid the sixth highest prices. than in other major producers such as the US,
Australia ranked 18th overall in terms of Canada, Russia and in the Middle East, McCo-
prices, with the lowest to be found in countries nville said the difference reflected the “high cost
with highly regulated markets where produc- of doing business in Australia, and increasingly
ers sold gas below the cost of production and the impact of restrictions on the development of
transportation. natural resources”.
The Australian Petroleum Production and Australian wholesale gas prices climbed from
Exploration Association (APPEA) seized on the around AUD4 ($2.78) per GJ in 2014 to a high
report, saying it put to bed frequently repeated of AUD20 ($13.83) in 2017, before collapsing

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 10•July•2020