Page 9 - NorthAmOil week 23

NorthAmOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
NorthAmOil
Joint venture to proceed with Whistler gas pipeline
TEXAS
A joint venture led by MPLX – the logistics arm of Marathon Petroleum – has announced a nal investment decision (FID) on the Whistler pipe- line, which would carry natural gas from the Per- mian Basin in Texas. e move comes as drillers in the basin struggle with a glut of associated gas production that has forced regional gas prices to record negative levels this year. (See: Permian drillers grapple with gas glut, page 6)
MPLX’s partners in Whistler are pipeline operator WhiteWater Midstream – which is backed by First Infrastructure Capital – and a joint venture between private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and pipe- line rm West Texas Gas. Two of the projects previous participants – Targa Resources and NextEra Energy – have since dropped out. e existing partners made their FID a er securing su cient rm transportation agreements with shippers.
e companies said in a June 5 statement that the majority of available capacity on the planned pipeline has been subscribed under long-term transportation agreements. WhiteWater and MPLX expect the remaining capacity to be fully
subscribed in the coming months, they added. e 475-mile (764-km), 42-inch (1,067-mm) Whistler pipeline would transport roughly 2 bcf (56.6 mcm) per day of gas from the Waha Hub in the Permian to the Agua Dulce Hub in South Texas. Supply for the pipeline would be sourced from multiple upstream connections in the
basin, the companies said.
“ e decision to move forward with this pro-
ject a er securing su cient commitments from shippers demonstrates our disciplined approach to investing,” said MPLX’s president, Michael Hennigan. “Whistler is expected to provide relia- ble residue gas transportation out of the Permian Basin, which is vital to our growing gas process- ing position and producers in the region.”
WhiteWater’s CEO, Christer Rundlof, added that the project would “tie directly into the most attractive markets in South Texas, including the growing LNG and Mexican markets”.
Assuming it receives required approvals on schedule, Whistler is expected to enter service by the third quarter of 2021. e project is the third major gas pipeline to be sanctioned in the region in recent years, with more likely to follow.™
PGNiG lines up extra US supplies
US-POLAND
POLAND’S PGNiG has agreed to buy another 1.5 million tpy of LNG from the US. e Pol- ish company announced on June 12 a deal with VentureGlobalforsupplyfromthePlaquemines LNG terminal.
e deal comes on top of a previous agree- ment on the facility, taking total shipments from the plant to PGNiG to 2.5 million tpy. Deliveries are due to begin when Plaquemines LNG begins, expected in 2023. PGNiG also has another 1 mil- lion tpy agreement with Venture Global, from its Calcasieu Pass LNG scheme, taking the total to 3.5 million tpy.
Attending the signing of the deal was US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Polish Sec- retary of State for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Piotr Naimski. e deal was signed in the White House, during Polish President Andrzej Duda’s visit to the US.
Perry, in the statement, was reported as saying the deal demonstrated a “shared commitment to energy security and an understanding that true energy security is achieved through energy diversity”. e o cial also noted the launch of the US-Poland Strategic Energy Dialogue.
PGNiG’s president, Piotr Wozniak, noted
the increase in the company’s portfolio after 2022, when the current contract with Russia’s Gazprom expires. “Thanks to good relations withourAmericanpartnersande ectivenego- tiations, we have achieved a highly competitive LNGsupplyfromthePlaqueminesterminal,”he said. Another PGNiG o cial, Maciej Wozniak, said US LNG was “becoming more competitive, which is con rmed by consecutive quarters of increased imports by Europe”.
Site construction on Calcasieu Pass LNG began in March, with rst LNG due in 2022. Plaquemines LNG received its final environ- mental impact statement (EIS) in May.
PGNiG has made much of LNG as an alter- native to Russian pipeline supplies. LNG is being used in a variety of ways. For instance, in May, the company began supplying LNG to a bus company in Warsaw. PGNiG’s Swinoujscie import terminal allows LNG to be distributed by truck. Most of this gas goes to local grids.
Historically, the company has relied on Qatar for LNG supplies, with the Middle Eastern state providing 84% of its demand, according to gures from January, while the US accounts for 3%.™
US DEALS:
PGNiG signed a deal for 2 million tpy of supplies fromSempraEnergy’s Port Arthur LNG project in December 2018, with supplies likely to start
in 2023. That year, the Polish company also signed a short-term deal with Cheniere Marketing for 520,000 tonnes, from 2019 to 2022, rising to 29 million tonnes from 2023 to 2042.
Week 23 13•June•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
P9