Page 7 - GLNG Week 41

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Zelenskiy has promised to fast-track reforms and These outages may actually be viewed as wel-
ensure greater independence at state institutions. come by the LNG industry more broadly, as the
But Hochstein’s comments – and the resignation sector continues to grapple with oversupply that
of Ukraine’s central bank governor Yakiv Smolii buyers are struggling to absorb. Despite this,
in July over what he said was “sustained political though, various companies are continuing to
pressure” – suggest otherwise. move towards the approval of new liquefaction
Meanwhile, Poland’s competition watchdog capacity.
UOKiK said on October 7 it had fined the Rus- Notably, last week US-based NextDecade
sian gas supplier Gazprom PLN29bn ($7.6bn) announced that it would target carbon neutral-
for going ahead with Nord Stream 2 without its ity at its proposed Rio Grande LNG terminal,
consent. Gazprom’s financing agreements with on which a final investment decision (FID) is
its European partners effectively established targeted for 2021. NextDecade said it would use
a de-facto joint venture, the regulator argues, a combination of carbon capture and storage
meaning its approval was needed because of the (CCS) and “proprietary processes” to achieve
pipeline’s impact on the Polish gas market. carbon neutrality at the 27mn tonne per year
Gazprom has vowed to appeal against the (tpy) Rio Grande facility. (See: NextDecade tar-
decision, setting Poland and Russia on a course gets carbon neutrality at proposed Rio Grande
for an arbitration dispute that could last years. LNG project, page 17)

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Latin America: Permian gas to Mexico
the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please This week’s LatAmOil examines Mexico’s grow-
click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor . ing importance as a market for unconventional
and associated gas from the US Permian Basin.
GLNG: Outages and new plans New pipelines are already benefiting CFE, the
Equinor’s LNG terminal on Melkoeya Island in national power provider, by pumping more gas
Hammerfest, Norway is expected to resume out- to the Mexican domestic markets, and they will
put on January 1, 2021, having gone offline after also support the establishment of new export
it was damaged in a fire last month, the company facilities capable of serving Asian and South
said in a regulatory statement on October 12. American markets.
(See: Unplanned outages plague LNG plants, page In related news, industry experts believe
9) The fire occurred in one of the plant’s electrici- that Mexico’s government may have launched
ty-generating turbines on September 28 and was its annual oil hedging deal. Details are scarce,
extinguished the same day. though, as Mexican officials are working hard
This is one of several LNG facilities globally to keep information about the hedge secret this
to be dealing with an unplanned outage recently. year.
One of the most notable is Chevron’s Gorgon Further south, Ecuador’s government is hop-
LNG terminal in Australia, where one train ing to sign another oil-backed loan deal with
remains offline while cracks in propane heat China in November. According to Rene Ortiz,
exchangers are being repaired. The other two the Minister of Energy and Non-Renewable
Gorgon trains are scheduled to go offline next Natural Resources, Quito intends to use the pro-
year – though not both at the same time – and ceeds of the $1.4bn credit to restructure some of
will be inspected for similar weld quality issues its existing debts.
to the ones that required repairs in Train 2. In Guyana, ExxonMobil (US) has extended
In the US, meanwhile, Cameron LNG had its contract with Noble Corp. (UK) for the use of
only just resumed exports, having been shut a drillship known as the Noble Tom Madden at
down by Hurricane Laura in late August only to the Stabroek block offshore Guyana. The exten-
go offline again as Hurricane Delta made land- sion, which pushes the end date of the contract
fall on the Louisiana coast. But operator Sempra back from mid-February of 2024 to mid-August
Energy reported on October 12 that it had sus- of 2030, follows closely on the heels of the US
tained no damage from the latest storm, adding super-major’s decision to proceed with develop-
that it had been determined that it was safe to ment work at Payara.
restart production at the plant. This field is now due to become the third

Week 41 16•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7