Page 7 - GLNG Week 06
P. 7
GLNG AMERICAS GLNG
US DoE approves four LNG export licences
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
The projects proposed for the Brownsville area face stronger opposition than facilities elsewhere on the Gulf Coast.
THE US Department of Energy (DoE) issued four licences this week covering LNG exports from proposed facilities in Texas to countries with which the US does not have a free-trade agreement (FTA).
Three of the projects – Annova LNG, Texas LNG and Rio Grande LNG – are located in the Brownsville area in South Texas. While these projects hope to leverage their proximity to the Panama Canal, they face stronger opposition than projects in other locations on the US Gulf Coast, from a coalition of shrimpers, fishermen, environmentalists and community groups. These opponents, who cite concerns about endangered species, climate and other issues, have requested that the US Federal Energy Reg- ulatory Commission (FERC) reconsider the per- mits issued to the three projects. However, FERC officials tabled the requests to reconsider the per- mits for Annova LNG and Texas LNG, as well as denying the request to reconsider the permit for
Rio Grande LNG. The opposition coalition may now resort to filing a federal lawsuit in an effort to prevent the projects from going ahead.
The fourth project to receive non-FTA export authorisation from the DoE this week is the planned Stage III expansion of Cheniere Ener- gy’s Corpus Christi LNG facility. The expansion will mark a move away from the design of the existing two 4.5mn tonne per year (tpy) trains – and a third of the same capacity that is currently under construction and due to enter service in 2021. Instead, the Stage III expansion will consist of seven mid-scale liquefaction trains that will have a combined capacity of 10mn tpy. Cheniere expects to take an FID on the expansion this year.
The authorisations will be welcomed by the LNG developers involved, but they come at a difficult time for the industry, with spot prices in Asia at record lows amid a supply glut and the coronavirus outbreak in China reducing demand.
Indonesia to halt LNG exports to Singapore in 2023
POLICY
INDONESIA has confirmed plans to end LNG exports to Singapore once its current supply agreement ends in three years.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Minis- try said on February 7 that LNG shipments to Singapore would stop in 2023 and that the gas would be diverted to meet domestic demand instead.
The Jakarta Post quoted the head of down- stream regulator BPH Migas, Fanshurullah Asa, as saying that the decision could help reduce the country’s trade balance by displacing some domestic oil demand. The Indonesian govern- ment has already limited state-owned Pertam- ina’s crude import quota for this year, forcing the company to open talks with local oilfield contractors to increase its purchases of domestic crude.
Indonesia’s gas shipments to Singapore are sourced from the Suban field in the ConocoPhil- lips-operated onshore Corridor Block, which delivered 833mn cubic feet (32.59mn cubic metres) per day in the first nine months of 2019, according to data from upstream regulator SKK Migas.
The ministry said that once the supply con- tract with Singapore expires, the gas will be dis- tributed to industrial estates in the Sei Mangkei
Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in North Sumatra via the Dumai-Duri pipeline.
The decision to divert gas supplies away from the export market was first revealed in Novem- ber, when Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif said in an official statement that there were no plans to renew the contract with Singapore.
Indonesia’s change in priorities comes as domestic demand outpaces available supply. Despite major new projects such as Repsol’s Sakakemang, BP’s Tangguh Train 3 and Chev- ron’s Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD), all slated to come on stream within the next three to four years, these projects are only expected to delay Indonesia’s eventual emergence as a net LNG importer.
SKK Migas head Amien Sunaryadi told Bloomberg in November that LNG exports were anticipated to drop from 267 cargoes in 2014 to just 200 cargoes in 2019. Sunaryadi said that domestic commitments could rise from 31 cargoes in 2014 to 58 cargoes in 2019.
The regulator estimates that gas supply ear- marked for domestic buyers will climb from 22.7tn cubic feet (642.86bn cubic metres) in 2014 to 23.4 tcf (662.69 bcm) in 2019.
Sunaryadi said LNG export contracts that expired last year would not be extended.
ASIA
Week 06 13•February•2020 w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m P7
