Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 12 2022

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil

NFE’s Pennsylvania LNG project paused

PENNSYLVANIA NEW Fortress Energy’s (NFE) $800mn LNG was slated to expire in 2021, but was extended
plant in Pennsylvania has been paused, accord- by state regulators until 2022. Meanwhile, NFE’s
ing to environmental groups opposing the US permit to ship LNG by rail could expire on
project. November 30 this year.
The project, planned for Pennsylvania’s Wya- The company had planned to liquefy millions
lusing Township, is reportedly now in jeopardy. of gallons of natural gas per day from the Marcel-
This comes after a coalition of environmental lus shale play. It would then have transported the
groups consisting of PennFuture, Clean Air LNG from the Wyalusing plant via truck or train
Council and the Sierra Club took legal action and to a proposed export terminal in Gibbstown,
obtained agreement from NFE to allow the pro- New Jersey, 175 miles (282 km) away. The LNG
posed plant’s air quality permit to expire in July. would have been shipped to overseas customers,
The environmental coalition had expressed predominantly in the Caribbean.
worries about air and water pollution near the With NFE prioritising other energy projects,
proposed plant, as well as the risk of an accident particularly the deployment of floating LNG
during truck or train transport to an export (FLNG) facilities around the world, the Wya-
terminal. lusing plant has been left on the backburner. In
The project is effectively halted because its renewal application, the company cited the
NFE is now required to secure a new air permit “pandemic, massive supply chain and workforce
from the state before it can begin building the disruptions, and widespread economic and
proposed LNG plant. According to settlement political uncertainties” as reasons for the project
documents, NFE could restart the project, but it being delayed.
would be required to begin the state permitting The settlement has also brought the viability
process over again. of the Gibbstown export terminal into question.
NFE’s existing air quality permit was granted NFE has yet to publicly comment on its inten-
by Pennsylvania regulators in 2019. The permit tions now for the plant.™

ENERGY TRANSITION

Occidental signs deal to sell net-

zero oil to South Korean refiner

US-SOUTH OCCIDENTAL Petroleum announced this help offset its own emissions, among other
KOREA week that it has reached a deal to sell what it companies.
described as net-zero oil to SK Trading Interna- Until now, production of emissions-free fossil
tional, a unit of South Korean refiner SK Innova- fuels has remained an elusive feat for the energy
tion. Under the terms of agreement Occidental sector. Even if oil companies slash emissions
will sell SK up to 200,000 barrels per year of oil from their own operations and suppliers, oil still
over a five-year period beginning in 2025. releases GHGs when it is burned by end-users,
Although oil releases greenhouse gases with these known as Scope 3 emissions.
(GHGs) when burned, Occidental calls the DAC has been touted as one method of reduc-
Emissions from the oil product net-zero oil because the company says ing, or potentially eliminating, the emissions that
will be offset using the it will be able to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) come from crude. Analysts at Citigroup told
direct air capture plant from the atmosphere using a planned direct Bloomberg that this is the “most exciting part” of
Occidental is building in air capture (DAC) facility. The amount of CO2 Occidental’s business and believe it could com-
the Permian Basin. removed through the DAC facility will be prise a significant portion of the company’s stock
enough to offset all emissions associated with valuation over the next decade.
that crude’s lifecycle from extraction to con- “We are pleased to be a part of the world’s
sumption, according to the company. first carbon-emission reduction initiative that
Occidental will inject about 100,000 tonnes is underpinned by processing net-zero oil on a
per year (tpy) of captured atmospheric CO2 life-cycle analysis basis,” Suh Sok-won, president
into reservoirs in the Permian Basin that it and CEO of SK Trading, said in a statement.
already uses for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). SK Innovation has vowed to halve its carbon
The new facility is expected to open in late 2024 emissions by 2030, with a target of becoming
and has also received backing from United carbon-neutral before 2050 as part of its “Carbon
Airlines Holdings, which intends to use it to to Green” strategy.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 24•March•2022