Page 11 - Gi June/July 2019

international news

AROUND THE WORLD RECORD RUSSIAN GAS

CHINA TO MISS 2020 SHALE GAS
PRODUCTION TARGETS AMID TOUGH SALES TO EUROPE HELP
UPSTREAM CONDITIONS
CHINA IS LIKELY to miss its 2020 GAZPROM PROFITS DOUBLE
shale gas production target as
technical and commercial challenges
dog efforts to tap into what are
considered the largest shale gas
resources outside the US, according
to S&P Global Platts.

EU PLANS SHARP HIKE IN US ENERGY
IMPORTS AS TRADE LEVER
THE EUROPEAN UNION will seek
to double imports of LNG from the GAZPROM IS WORKING ON CONTINGENCY
United States by 2023, as part of its PLANS IN CASE NORD STREAM-2 IS DELAYED
efforts to ease transatlantic trade
tensions and reduce its reliance on RUSSIAN GAS PRODUCER Gazprom has called for EU states to reduce their
Russian gas, according to Reuters. doubled its annual net profit last year, reliance on Russian energy amid wider
US President Donald Trump led by record sales to Europe despite political tensions.
agreed with European Commission pressure on EU states to diversify away However, Gazprom has said that its
chief Jean-Claude Juncker last July from Russian energy imports. exports to Europe have declined so far
not to impose tariffs on EU cars as Gazprom is also working on this year, partly due to warmer weather.
the two sides sought to improve contingency plans in case the undersea The company, which reported a net
economic ties, including a drive to Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline to Germany profit of 1.456 trillion rubles ($23 billion)
increase imports of US LNG. is delayed and talks on a new gas for 2018, has been going through an
transit deal with Ukraine fall through, unprecedented management reshuffle.
RUSSIA’S NOVATEK TO SELL 20 a spokesman said after the company It saw exports boss Alexander Medvedev
PERCENT IN ARCTIC LNG 2 TO CHINA released its annual results. and Andrey Kruglov, who oversaw the
Gazprom is a lynchpin of Russia’s company’s finances, leave the company.
TWO CHINESE COMPANIES have commodity-dependent economy with its Alexei Miller, who is close to Russian
signed agreements with Russia’s sales accounting for over five per cent of President Vladimir Putin, is still at the
Novatek to buy a combined 20 per the country’s $1.6 trillion annual gross company’s helm.
cent stake in its new LNG project, domestic product, according to Reuters. The reasons behind the high-profile
Arctic LNG 2. The Kremlin-controlled gas departures have not been revealed.
Novatek gave no financial details producer’s exports to European Some analysts and sources have pointed
in a statement announcing the countries and Turkey reached almost to internal infighting and poor results
agreements, according to Reuters. 202 billion cubic meters (bcm) last year, of some of the company’s units, namely
even though the European Commission Gazprom Marketing & Trading.

GAS SUPPLY GLUT IN EUROPE DRIVES PRICES TO MULTIYEAR LOWS

UTILITIES ACROSS EUROPE are lows, reports The Financial Times. more connected thanks to increasing
enjoying a windfall, as a gas glut caused A mild Asian winter coupled with volumes of LNG cargoes moving the gas
by excess liquefied natural gas shipments nuclear-plant restarts in Japan and from one continent to another, freed
from Asia drives prices to multi-year ample supplies from the US and Russia from an old regime of rigid contracts
have cut down deliveries of LNG to with fixed destinations.
FUTURE GAS PRICES IN EUROPE WILL BE large buyers in the region. As prices for “In the future, gas prices in Europe
DRIVEN BY LNG, SAY EXPERTS
the supercooled fuel have fallen, hitting will be driven by LNG,” said Niall
a three-year low, cargoes have been Trimble, Managing Director of oil and
directed instead to Europe. gas consultants The Energy Contract
That is pushing down prices there, Company.
too. In May, the UK wholesale day- LNG will also gain greater influence
ahead gas price, for example, was on European and UK gas markets as
just above 31p per therm, the lowest volumes from the region’s production
seasonal level since 2016 and below a areas in the North Sea, Netherlands
five-year average of 46p per therm. and Norway decline. The UK became a
The price moves show how gas net importer of natural gas in the mid-
markets around the world have become 2000s as North Sea production fell.

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News.indd 6 16/05/2019 13:39