Page 14 - EurOil Week 42

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil

German oil imports down 2% in 8M 2020

GERMANY GERMAN oil imports inched downwards 2% Germany is due to start receiving gas via Rus-
in the first eight months of the year, with levels sia’s 55 bcm per year Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
The import bill has affected by weaker demand as a result of the next year, assuming the project is realised. The
shrunk much more coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and related US has just broadened sanctions on the project,
significantly, however. lockdowns. threatening to punish any companies assisting
The country took in 55.9mn tonnes (1.68mn the Russian pipelaying vessels expected to finish
barrels per day) of oil in the period, down from its remaining 160 km.
57mn tonnes a year earlier, monthly statistics
published by the BAFA foreign trade office Hydrogen ships
showed. Russia accounted for 34.5% of the vol- German gas companies are also exploring ways
umes, while 22.9% came from the UK and Nor- to develop hydrogen as an energy fuel. Winter-
wegian North Sea. OPEC members delivered shall Dea announced on October 21 it was work-
17.2%, while the rest came from other sources ing with partners to convert supply vessels that
such as the US. serve its Mittelplate oilfield in the North Sea to
The sharp decline in oil prices also meant run on hydrogen.
Germany’s oil import bill shrank 35.4% to “Together with our partners Entec and
€15.9bn ($18.9bn) from January to August. The Acta Marine, we are assessing the feasibil-
average price paid at the border fell 34.1% to ity of upgrading the existing fleet of supply
€283.7 per tonne ($45.95 per barrel). vessels with hydrogen hybrid engines,” Win-
Germany is yet to report its January-August tershall Dea CTO Hugo Dijkgraaf said in a
gas imports, although shipments were down statement.
6.4% in the first seven months of the year to The four supply vessels that work at Mittelp-
85.5bn cubic metres. The import bill for the late travel some 23,150 km each year, consum-
period shrank 37.4% to €9.7bn. The country ing roughly 275,000 litres of diesel. Entec, the
mainly gets its gas from Russia, Norway, the operator of Mittelplate’s land base in Cuxhaven,
Netherlands, the UK and Denmark. recently finished a feasibility study on the plan.
Gas demand in Germany has seen some The first vessel to be fitted with a hybrid propul-
support this year from coal-to-gas switching in sion system will be Coastal Liberty, and the goal
the power industry. German gas lobby group is to develop maritime hydrogen infrastructure
Zukunft Erdgas (ZE) extolled the benefits of in the region.
the fuel in a report on October 11. Citing data Mittelplate is Germany’s biggest oilfield in
from the federal statistics office, it noted that gas terms of production and is also one of its old-
now accounted for 50% of electricity used by est, having started up 33 years ago. According to
industry. Industrial users consumed 53.4 TWh Wintershall Dea, the field already has very low
of electricity last year, of which 26.7 TWh was emissions of only 17.5 kg of CO2 per barrel of oil
generated using gas, ZE said. This is 42% more equivalent (boe), but the aim is to lower this to
gas than was used for the purpose a decade ago, 0.4 kg in 2021.
at the expense of coal use. “Through measures such as converting the
The data shows that gas “is a fundamental ship drives to hydrogen hybrid or running the
pillar of German industry,” the lobby group said. facilities with 100% certified green electricity,
“This makes it all the more important to have as adopted recently, Wintershall Dea is setting a
enough competition and import opportunities very ambitious bar for the future,” the company
for natural gas to support the economy.” said. ™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 42 22•October•2020