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His departure comes after prosecutors recently GLNG: Outages and new plans
accused the company’s management of corrup- Equinor’s Melkoeya LNG terminal in Hammer-
tion, in a case suspected to be politically moti- fest, Norway is expected to resume output on
vated. Hochstein complained that the company’s January 1, 2021, having gone offline after it was
management’s efforts over the years to “create a damaged in a fire last month, the company said
new corporate culture, transparent mechanisms in a regulatory statement on October 12. The fire
and an adherence to international standards occurred in one of the plant’s electricity-gener-
were resisted at every step of the way.” ating turbines on September 28 and was extin-
Ukraine’s anti-corruption prosecutor’s office guished the same day.
has said it suspects Naftogaz’s top executives of This is one of several LNG facilities globally
stealing UAH730mn ($26.3mn) of natural gas to be dealing with an unplanned outage recently.
supplies in 2016-2017 in a treason case. Naftogaz One of the most notable is Chevron’s Gorgon
CEO Andriy Kobolev insists the company has LNG terminal in Australia, where one train
“nothing to hide”, while Hochstein has described remains offline while cracks in propane heat
the prosecutor’s suspicions as “unfounded exchangers are being repaired. The other two US-based
allegations.” Gorgon trains are scheduled to go offline next
“The old tactic of using prosecutors and audi- year – though not both at the same time – and NextDecade will
tors for intimidation and retaliation is back,” will be inspected for similar weld quality issues
Hochstein said. “I can no longer stand by and be to the ones that required repairs in Train 2. target carbon
used to endorse this negative trend, and it’s why In the US, meanwhile, Cameron LNG had neutrality at its
I must voluntarily leave the board.” only just resumed exports, having been shut
Hochstein’s departure is reminiscent of the down by Hurricane Laura in late August only to proposed Rio
resignation of all Naftogaz’s independent direc- go offline again as Hurricane Delta made land-
tors in 2017 in protest over the authorities’ lack fall on the Louisiana coast. But operator Sempra Grande LNG
of commitment to reform. President Volodymyr Energy reported on October 12 that it had sus-
Zelenskiy has promised to fast-track reforms and tained no damage from the latest storm, adding terminal
ensure greater independence at state institutions. that it had been determined that it was safe to
But Hochstein’s comments – and the resignation restart production at the plant.
of Ukraine’s central bank governor Yakiv Smolii These outages may actually be viewed as wel-
in July over what he said was “sustained political come by the LNG industry more broadly, as the
pressure” – suggest otherwise. sector continues to grapple with oversupply that
Meanwhile, Poland’s competition watchdog buyers are struggling to absorb. Despite this, var-
UOKiK said on October 7 it had fined the Rus- ious companies are continuing to move towards
sian gas supplier Gazprom PLN29bn ($7.6bn) the approval of new liquefaction capacity.
for going ahead with Nord Stream 2 without its Notably, last week US-based NextDecade
consent. Gazprom’s financing agreements with announced that it would target carbon neutral-
its European partners effectively established ity at its proposed Rio Grande LNG terminal,
a de-facto joint venture, the regulator argues, on which a final investment decision (FID) is
meaning its approval was needed because of the targeted for 2021. NextDecade said it would use
pipeline’s impact on the Polish gas market. a combination of carbon capture and storage
Gazprom has vowed to appeal against the (CCS) and “proprietary processes” to achieve
decision, setting Poland and Russia on a course carbon neutrality at the 27mn tonne per year
for an arbitration dispute that could last years. (tpy) Rio Grande facility.

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please the global LNG sector then please click here for
click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor . NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor.

Week 41 15•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9