Page 9 - GLNG Week 34

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BCPL to invest in Indian FSRU
INVESTMENT
INDIA’S Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has unveiled plans to build an o shore LNG import terminal at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. BPCL’s chairman, D Rajku- mar, said on August 26 that his company would invest INR15-17bn ($210-238mn) in build- ing the oating storage and regasi cation unit (FSRU).
According to Rajkumar, the FSRU will ini- tially have a capacity of 1mn tonnes per year, which can be scaled up to 3-5mn tpy further down the line. e company anticipates com- missioning the facility by 2022.
BPCL will hold a 74% stake in the project, with Petronet LNG owning the remaining 26% interest, Rajkumar said.
The move appears to suggest that BPCL – India’s second-largest state-owned re ning and fuel marketing rm – anticipates the use of natu- ral gas as cleaner-burning fuels becoming more popular. Prior to announcing its LNG invest- ment, BPCL has also started participating in city gas distribution (CGD).
Rajkumar said BPCL was transferring its gas business to a new subsidiary – Bharat Gas
Resources Ltd (BGRL). e company already has CGD licences for 37 geographical areas, includ- ing through joint ventures with other players.
BGRL has also entered into a long-term sales and purchase agreement (SPA) to buy 1mn tpy of LNG from Mozambique over a period of 15 years, Rajkumar noted. e gas will come from the Anadarko Petroleum-led Mozambique LNG project, on which a nal investment decision (FID) was recently taken. e project is antici- pated to enter service in 2024. A BPCL unit owns a 10% stake in Mozambique LNG.
BPCL’s FSRU plan comes as other companies also move forward with the construction of LNG import terminals – though some proposals have also been scrapped. Adani Group is building a 5mn tpy LNG import facility at Dhamra in Odi- sha. Meanwhile, Petronet had previously signed a rm and binding term sheet for developing an onshore LNG terminal at Gangavaram Port in Andhra Pradesh alongside Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL), but subsequently abandoned the plan. State-owned GAIL (India) had also been intend- ing to develop a facility at Paradip, in Odisha, but also scrapped the proposal.™
EUROPE
Novatek board proposes H1 dividends
PERFORMANCE
THE board of directors of Russia’s leading LNG producer Novatek has proposed distributing RUB43.2bn ($654mn) of its rst-half pro ts as dividends to shareholders, the company said on August 23.
While considerably more than Novatek’s interim dividend payout last year of RUB28bn, the proposed sum only amounts to 9.6% of its net income for January to June, compared with 37% a year earlier. It corresponds to RUB14.23 per ordinary share and RUB142.3 per global depository receipt (GDR).
Novatek’s interim dividends will be discussed at an extraordinary general meeting of share- holders on September 30.
e company, under the control of Russian businessmen Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Timchenko, saw net pro ts climb almost sixfold year on year to RUB451bn in the rst half, as rising LNG production more than o set weaker global gas prices. Its 50.1%-owned Yamal LNG project in the Russian Arctic reached its full 16.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) capacity last December, just two years a er its launch.
Novatek is now investing most of its pro ts
in expansion, with plans to hoist its LNG out- put to 70mn tpy by 2030. It is preparing to take a final investment decision (FID) on its next megaproject, the 19.8mn tpy Arctic LNG-2 ter- minal, later this year. e company is currently building support infrastructure for the scheme, while also continuing its search for new Arctic gas resources to exploit.
Novatek spent RUB73.68bn on capi- tal expenditure in the first half, up from RUB31.76bn in the same period last year. Spend- ing in the second quarter related mostly to the construction of a shipyard in Murmansk that will be used to build LNG equipment, as well as development work at the North-Russkoye eld, CFO Mark Gyetvay said in Novatek’s latest earn- ings call.
Novatek revised up its guidance for full-year capex in July to RUB200bn from RUB185bn. is was to account for work at Obsky LNG, another export terminal Novatek intends to develop using almost exclusively Russian technology and equipment. The company’s capital spending in 2018 came in at RUB95bn.™
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