Page 16 - MEOG Week 03 2021

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facilities in Ogun and Lagos states, the company financial instability in the oil and gas industry,
reported earlier this week. and low levels of industry investment”. His warn-
Ed Ubong, the managing director of SNG, ing came just days before Reuters reported that
commented: “This agreement will enable local both Pakistan and Bangladesh had begun ration-
industries to thrive and create employment oppor- ing gas supplies amid the price spike.
tunities for Nigerians. We look forward to continu- “The current gas crisis being faced by the
ing to grow domestic gas distribution to industries [Pakistani] industry includes disconnection of
and manufacturing plants in Ogun State and other gas supply to industries as well as low gas pres-
parts of Nigeria while unleashing the industrial sure,” Trade and Industry Association of Karachi
potential of Badagry.” president Saleem Uz Zaman told the newswire
on January 18.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping State-owned distributor Sui Southern Gas
Africa’s oil and gas sector then please click here for Co. (SSGC) has warned industry associations
NewsBase’s AfrOil Monitor. that it faces a supply deficit of around 200mn
cubic feet (5.66mn cubic metres) per day.
Asia: GTP, LNG projects at risk The Bangladeshi government, meanwhile,
Billions of dollars’ worth of gas power projects has cut gas supplies to power plants, but has
and liquified natural gas (LNG) import projects maintained industrial supply, according to one
are at risk of cancellation in Bangladesh, Paki- unnamed senior official at state-run Petrobangla.
stan and Vietnam, according to a new research The general manager of Bangladesh’s Rupan-
note. The Institute for Energy Economics and tarita Prakritik Gas, Rafiqul Islam, said: “LNG
Financial Analysis (IEEFA) released a report prices have gone crazy... For the last few tenders,
on January 14 suggesting that more than $50bn we didn’t get any response from suppliers. We
worth of such projects were at risk owing to soar- are continuing our efforts to buy from the spot
ing spot prices in recent months. market ... But it is very unlikely [we will get] get
“Asian LNG spot prices have soared to a new competitive prices in this highly volatile market.”
high on the back of stronger than expected sea-
sonal demand for heating as freezing weather If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
grips large parts of the northern hemisphere,” Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
IEEFA analyst Bruce Robertson said in the NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor.
report. “Interruptions to supply in Malaysia,
Australia and the US, three of the world’s larg- DMEA: Qatar raises climate ambitions
est LNG exporters, and higher freight rates have Qatar Petroleum (QP) launched a new sus-
also affected prices.” tainability strategy last week, targeting a 25%
Spot prices have soared in recent months, reduction in the emissions intensity of its LNG
with pricing agency S&P Global Platts reporting facilities by 2030.
on January 13 that its Asian spot LNG bench- The national gas company is among a number
mark had reached a record high of $32.49 of LNG exporters across the world taking steps
mmBtu ($898.67 per 1,000 cubic metres) the to address their environmental impact, as inves-
previous day. tors and buyers grow increasingly climate-con-
Robertson argued: “Higher and volatile LNG scious. The world’s biggest LNG producer is also
prices will make operating LNG-powered gen- looking to cut its upstream emissions by at least
eration plants more costly and unpredictable. 15% and reduce flaring intensity by over 75%
This may lead to the underutilisation of LNG within ten years. It has set its emissions level in
plants and rising gas and electricity tariffs for 2013 as a baseline for the cuts.
customers.” QP aims to sequester 7mn tonnes per
The analyst warned that LNG prices were year (tpy) of its CO2 emissions by 2027. Its
likely to trend upwards as volatility gripped equity upstream emissions reached 28.1mn
the market, owing to “lower levels of drilling, tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2019, while total

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