Newsoil-gasShell To Relocate Madrid Gas Trading Team To Dubai
oil-gas
ARABIAN GULF BUSINESS INSIGHT
Jan 15, 2025Shell To Relocate Madrid Gas Trading Team To Dubai
Shell plans to close its Madrid gas trading operations for tax reasons, Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias has reported.
Citing unnamed sources, the report said Shell planned to relocate its gas trading staff of 50 people to Dubai, London and Singapore. The staff includes a team handling commercial activities.
The Madrid operations were originally part of liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Pavilion Energy, which Shell bought from Singapore’s investment fund Temasek last year.
The UAE, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in particular, have been pushing hard to attract regional and global traders to set up operations in the emirates.
In 2020, Adnoc (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) established Adnoc Trading (AT) and Adnoc Global Trading (AGT). The former is focused on crude and LNG and is active on ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, an independent exchange for derivatives of the local Murban contract. AGT specialises in refined products. Today, these two companies employ more than 400 people.
Regional companies, including Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Trading, Oman’s OQ, Kuwait’s KPC, Bahrain’s Bapco and France’s TotalEnergies have established offices in the UAE.
International houses like Ennero Group, Gunvor, Montfort and Vitol are also present.
“From a logistical standpoint, [the UAE is] very well placed to capture the opportunity,” a source told AGBI.
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ARABIAN GULF BUSINESS INSIGHT
Oman’S Oil Sector Received $12Bn Investment In 2024Oman says nearly RO5 billion ($12 billion) was pumped into its hydrocarbon sector last year as it pushed ahead with plans to expand production capacity and boost reserves.
By the end of 2024, cumulative investment in the sultanate’s hydrocarbon industry totalled around RO24 billion ($62 billion), up from RO19 ($50 billion) at the end of 2023, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information.
A large part of the investments were channelled by foreign oil companies with interests in Oman including British Petroleum, Shell and Italy’s ENI. Shell has a 34 percent stake in Petroleum Development Oman, alongside TotalEnergies, which has 4 percent.
BP has had a presence in the sultanate since 2007. It operates the Khazzan tight gas project and in 2023 signed an agreement to develop a green hydrogen project in Al-Wusta province.
Last week, the ministry of energy and minerals offered further concessions in Block 18 in the Sea of Oman, Block 36, Block 43 and Block 66 onshore, according to the director general of investment.
Oman produced nearly 992,000 barrels per day in 2024. It controls around 5.2 billion barrels of proven oil deposits and 25 trillion cubic feet of gas.oil-gas
01 April 2025
EnergyCapitalPower
Uganda Partners With Alpha Mbm Investments On Oil RefineryState-owned Uganda National Oil Corporation (UNOC) has concluded a partnership agreement with private investment firm Alpha MBM Investments for the development of an oil refinery in Uganda. Initially signed in December 2023, the agreement conclusion paves the way for the construction of the $4 billion facility.
The companies will now proceed to sign the requisite commercial agreements, including the Host Government Agreement (HGA), Crude Suppliers Agreement (CSA) and Shareholders Agreement. While the HGA will outline key commitments and obligations of the state and its partners, the CSA will determine feedstock of 60,000 barrels per day for the facility. Thereafter, a final investment decision will be made, with the facility financed through a combination of debt (60%) and equity (40%).
“We are pleased to have a partner with financial strength and a solid reputation. Work will commence immediately after negotiations to recover the lost time,” stated Ruth Nankabirwa, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Uganda.oil-gas
01 April 2025
Pipeline Technology Journal
Fluxys Begins Building Belgium'S First Hydrogen Pipeline NetworkFluxys has begun construction on the first phase of its hydrogen transport network in Belgium, focusing initially on pipelines in the port areas of Antwerp and Ghent.
The project, announced Friday, marks a step toward developing a national open-access hydrogen infrastructure, as mandated by the company in its role as the designated hydrogen network operator.
The Belgian federal government is providing financial support through the European Union’s Resilience and Recovery Fund.
The start of construction followed consultations with authorities, regulators and industry stakeholders. Fluxys hydrogen NV, a subsidiary created in 2023, was officially appointed in April 2024 to develop and manage the open-access network.
The company said the decision reflects a cautious approach to investment risk in the nascent hydrogen market.
The first phase includes pipeline installation between the ports of Antwerp and Ghent, specifically along the Kallo to Zelzate segment. The pipelines are being built with multi-purpose technology, similar to recent gas pipeline projects, to allow flexibility for future energy vectors.
The hydrogen network will be deployed in phases starting in 2026, based on market demand and economic conditions, with the entire infrastructure adhering to open access principles, allowing hydrogen producers and consumers to connect under Belgian regulatory frameworks.
The frameworks aim to support the development of a hydrogen economy while managing initial investment risks. Public support mechanisms are expected to balance industrial development and economic viability.oil-gas
01 April 2025
EnergyCapitalPower
Congo Eyes Agriculture Growth Through Gas-To-Power ProjectsWith a pipeline of natural gas projects coming online this year, the Republic of Congo has outlined ambitious plans to leverage its endowment of hydrocarbons to support development of the agriculture sector. As such, the introduction of emerging technologies and the deployment of gas-to-power projects in Congo is setting a strong benchmark for economic diversification and socioeconomic development in the country.
Gas-to-Power to Drive Development
Set to address the country’s electrification challenges, Turkish power producer Aksa Enerji recently announced the first 25 MW turbine of the Djeno Power Plant is scheduled to commence operations in March 2025. The plant has a current installed capacity of 50 MW, comprising two combined-cycle combustion turbines of 25 MW each. With the first turbined scheduled for commissioning this month, the second is undergoing maintenance and is expected to be operational by Q3, 2025.
Congo is home to an estimated 10 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, primarily located in offshore fields such as Litchendjili, Néné, Minsala and Nkala, within the Marine XII license. To harness these resources, the Congolese government has implemented a series of initiatives and incentives to define a natural gas strategy that promotes development across all sectors of the economy.
Supporting the Agriculture Sector
Speaking in his state of the nation address to parliament in November 2024, Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso announced the country is looking at boosting production of fertilizer across the country to support agricultural activities. During his address, the president explained that the country’s fertile soil, young workforce and significant gas reserves have the potential to support agriculture and diversify its economy.
With a ramp up of natural gas exploration and production activities in 2025 and beyond, the Congolese government has indicated a commitment to leveraging income from the sale of LNG to support agriculture initiatives across the country. Congo exported its inaugural shipment of LNG to Italy in February 2024. The cargo was exported from the Tango FLNG facility – operated by energy major Eni.
A Front Runner in Sustainable Gas Production
On the back of a major gas monetization drive, Congo is expected to produce 3 million tons of gas this year. As such, dynamic opportunities in gas processing and refining present lucrative investment opportunities for international players. With significant untapped gas reserves and a pressing need for reliable power, Congo is set to launch its Gas Mater Plan imminently.
The plan aims to advance the country’s gas monetization agenda by catalyzing new infrastructure development, including gas pipelines, processing facilities and gas-to-power plants. The plan also seeks to reduce energy imports and raise electricity access, currently at 50%.oil-gas
01 April 2025
World Oil
Sinopec Announces Major Shale Oil Discovery In Eastern ChinaChina Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) announced the discovery of over 140 million tonnes (MMt) of proven geological reserves of shale oil with technically recoverable reserves of 11.3599 MMt at its Shengli Oilfield's Jiyang shale oil national demonstration zone in East China's Shandong province on March 24, 2025. This is the first shale oil field with proven geological reserves of over 100 MMt that has been certificated by China's Ministry of Natural Resources.
Shengli Oilfield has developed advanced automated drilling equipment that extracts efficiently, and explored horizontal well optimization and fast drilling technology, and dense cutting combined seam network volume fracturing technology. The average drilling cycle has been reduced from 133 days to 29.5 days, and the drilling cycle of 6,000-meter wells has reached 17.7 days, and the single well production capacity has continued to set new records.
"Through 150,000 times of indoor experiments, we developed the theory of shale oil enrichment in continental fault lake basins, reshaping the traditional common understanding that shale oil can only be enriched and mobilized when its maturity is higher than 0.9%," shared Liu Huimin, Vice President and Chief Geologist of Sinopec Shengli Oilfield Branch. "With the support of this theory, the amount of shale oil resources in Jiyang has tripled after re-evaluation."
Shengli Oilfield has tackled challenges of high temperature, pressure, and leakage in shale oil development. By advancing reserve-fracture-pressure theories, developing full-cycle 3D technologies, and building an integrated geological engineering platform, it expanded shale oil development from three to seven layers, addressing extraction efficiency and maximizing resource recovery.
Sun Yongzhuang, Assistant to President of Sinopec Group and Managing Director of Shengli Petroleum Administration Bureau Co., said estimated shale oil resources in Shengli Oilfield have reached 10.5 billion tonnes, equivalent to the conventional oil and gas resources recovered during the past 60 years in China. "After more than 10 years of continuous research and innovative breakthroughs, Shengli Oilfield is expected to add 80 million tonnes of proven reserves this year through the integrated promotion of exploration and development," Mr. Sun said.
Jia Chengzao, an Academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an expert in petroleum and structural geology, said shale oil is a key resource for boosting and stabilizing domestic crude oil production, commenting, "Proven reserves are the core indicator supporting current production. In January, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued specifications for estimating oil reserves in shale formations, marking a new stage of normalization and standardization in China's shale oil resource management."oil-gas
01 April 2025
World Oil
Chevron Sells 70% Stake In Haynesville Shale Assets To Tokyo Gas For $525 MillionChevron has closed on a deal to sell a 70% interest in its East Texas shale gas assets to an affiliate of TG Natural Resources LLC (TGNR), a company indirectly owned by Tokyo Gas and Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI), for $525 million, with $75 million paid in cash and $450 million as a capital carry to fund Haynesville development.
Chevron will retain a 30% non-operated working interest in a joint venture with TGNR and an overriding royalty interest in the assets. Tokyo Gas and CCI own an approximate 93% and 7% interest in TGNR, respectively.
The transaction is anticipated to generate over $1.2 billion in value to Chevron at current Henry Hub prices through the multi-year capital carry, retained working interest, and overriding royalty interest. Chevron expects to maintain future upside through the joint venture structure while accelerating development of a non-core asset through a capital efficient approach.
This transaction supports Chevron’s previously announced plans to divest $10-15 billion of assets by 2028 in order to optimize its global energy portfolio.oil-gas
01 April 2025
EnergyCapitalPower
Penspen To Lead Feasibility Study For Trans-Saharan Gas PipelineInternational energy consultancy Penspen has been reengaged to update the feasibility study for the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP). Initially conducted by the company in 2006, the updated study represents a key step towards realizing the project.
The updated study will comprise an analysis of the regional gas market, the environmental and social impacts and the economic and financial components. These include cost estimation, legislation, consultation reviews, risk analysis and development of scope of work for the Front-End Engineering Design.
“We are proud to have been selected to support the next phase of this transformative project, leveraging our extensive experience in cross-country pipeline engineering and development to deliver a sustainable and efficient energy solution,” stated Arun Behl, Sales & Marketing Director (Middle East and Africa), Penspen.
Traversing 4,000 km from Nigeria to Algeria, the TSGP is being developed by the respective national oil companies of Nigeria, Algeria and Niger. The project has a capacity to transport 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year and will strengthen regional trade in Africa.oil-gas
01 April 2025
Pipeline Gas Journal
Europe May Need $11 Billion In Lng To Refill Gas Storage(Reuters) — Europe may need up to an extra 250 cargoes of liquefied natural gas this year costing at least $11 billion to refill its depleted gas stores ahead of winter, with Ukraine requiring at least another 30 cargoes, according to analysts and data.
Demand during winter 2024-25 was higher than the year before due to colder and less windy weather, resulting in more withdrawals from European Union stores, which are now just under 34% full, the lowest since 2022.
Based on current European Commission targets, set to help prevent supply shortages following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, gas storage sites across the EU must be 90% full again by Nov. 1.
With more gas to buy and fewer supplies coming by pipeline, Europe will need to rely on globally traded LNG and pay a premium to attract cargoes in competition with buyers in Asia.
"Europe will have to buy fairly aggressively this spring and summer to refill inventories," Jason Feer, global head of business intelligence at energy and shipping brokerage Poten and Partners, told a webinar.
Hitting the 90% target would require 57.7 billion cubic meters of net injections, 25.8 Bcm more year on year, or up to 250 extra LNG cargoes, according to analytics firm Kpler.
Based on the current benchmark European gas price of around 41 euros per megawatt-hour, this would be an additional cost of 10.3 billion euros ($11.1 billion) to fill storage sites this year, according to Reuters calculations.
Kpler is forecasting an average gas price of $13.17 per million British thermal units, or around 41.60 euros/MWh over the April 1 to October 31 injection season, up 19% year-on-year.
Target Missed
But few in the market think Europe will meet its target.
"What may happen is that the November 1 target is going to be delayed so it will give more wiggle room or more room to maneuver for European importers to meet targets this year," senior LNG analyst Steven Swindells at Poten and Partners said.
Indeed, the European Commission is considering relaxing storage requirements, with the latest proposal suggesting hitting 90% any time between October 1 and December 1 while also accepting lower levels in some cases to ease market pressure.
According to Kpler, EU stores could be 76-78% full by November 1 and still be compliant with likely new regulations, Regalado said.
This would still require an additional 120 LNG cargoes year on year, analysts said.
Ukraine
Adding to the competition for supplies, Ukraine's gas stores are almost completely empty after attacks by Russian forces have cut domestic gas production.
"We now estimate that Ukraine will need 3-6 Bcm of gas imports to fill its storage," Regalado said.
LSEG analyst Yuriy Onishkiv told a webinar that Ukraine would need to import up to 5 Bcm, at least 3 Bcm of which would have to be supplied in the form of LNG from the United States and delivered to terminals in Poland and Lithuania.
This translates to roughly 30 cargos, based on Reuters calculations.
No Market Incentive
The refilling need has elevated gas prices for the summer, typically a period of low demand used to buy gas for storage.
Summer contracts have even traded at a premium to next winter ones in recent months, and injecting LNG or gas into European storage is not expected to make traders any money, Poten and Partners' Feer said.
"That's certainly going to discourage storage fills unless that market structure changes," he said.
The first signs of such a change are perhaps emerging, with Europe's benchmark forward contracts becoming more expensive than nearer-term ones.
That "signals that we can actually have incentives to inject at some point in the near future," Kpler's Regalado said.
Without such a market-based incentive, governments may need to offer subsidies to ensure stores are refilled, a move previously mooted by Germany.
($1 = 0.9271 euros)oil-gas
01 April 2025
Pipeline Gas Journal
Tokyo Gas Acquires Chevron Gas Assets Near Lng Corridor In East Texas For $525 Million(Reuters) — TG Natural Resources LLC (TGNR), co-owned by Tokyo Gas and Castleton Commodities International, has bought a 70% stake in east Texas gas assets from Chevron for $525 million, the company said on Tuesday, as it expands its U.S. gas business.
TGNR is already the fourth biggest producer in the Haynesville shale basin and the deal would allow it to reap synergies of over $170 million during the asset's development, Craig Jarchow, the company's chief executive, said in a statement.
RELATED: U.S. Gas Firms Refocus on Haynesville as Trump Greenlights LNG Projects
Haynesville's location in east Texas and northwest Louisiana is ideal for exports from liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and projects clustered on the nearby Gulf Coast, and has investors' attention as U.S. President Donald Trump aims to boost gas exports.
Yoshihisa Yamada, senior general manager at Tokyo Gas, told reporters on Tuesday that the new investment had been under consideration since before Trump's return to the office, but that the deal is in line with both countries' common aim to strengthen energy security by boosting LNG supplies from the U.S. to Japan.
The asset is expected to produce 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day in 2030, he said, adding that Tokyo Gas is considering investing in LNG liquefaction in the United States but no specific decisions have been made.
Tokyo Gas, Japan's largest city gas provider, said last week it wanted to increase coordination between its LNG trading and shale gas businesses in the U.S. and expand there, as it sees shale gas as a major profit pillar in the coming years.oil-gas
01 April 2025
Pipeline Gas Journal
Russia Shuts Cpc Moorings, Cutting Kazakh Oil Exports Amid Opec+ Quota Dispute(Reuters) — Russia has ordered the Black Sea terminal handling Kazakhstan's oil exports pumped by U.S. majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil to close two of its three moorings amid a standoff between Kazakhstan and OPEC+ over excess production.
The operator of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which exports around 1% of global oil supply via the Russian terminal, said late on Monday that the two moorings were halted following snap inspections by Russia's transport watchdog.
The stoppage could more than halve CPC exports if it lasts for longer than a week, trading sources told Reuters.
The Russian order to CPC came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with Russia and the rate of progress in peace talks with Ukraine and threatened to impose secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.
Record-High Output
Kazakhstan has frequently exceeded its production quotas under a pact among OPEC+ producers, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, such as Russia.
However, it is finding it difficult to convince the companies operating its largest oilfields to reduce output where they have spent tens of billions of dollars to expand capacity.
According to two industry sources, Kazakhstan's oil output reached a record high in March with increased supply from the giant Tengiz oilfield and stable exports via the CPC, further exceeding OPEC+ production quotas.
Its oil and gas condensate production reached 8.95 million metric tons in March, or 2.17 million barrels per day (bpd), the sources said. Its energy ministry had reported output in February averaged 2.15 million bpd.
Kazakhstan's energy minister stepped down last month after tough discussions on OPEC+ compliance.
One OPEC+ source said there is always "a challenge" with Kazakhstan but it eventually gets resolved, referring to its excess output and the CPC moorings closure.
CPC said the mooring closures followed an inspection by Russia's transport watchdog, allowing the company to address "violations".
CPC did not specify the exact nature of these violations nor say how long the closures were expected to last.
It said the inspection was prompted by an oil product spill following the sinking of a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait in December.
Flows Uninterrupted
U.S. oil major Chevron said on Tuesday that oil output at its unit in Kazakhstan, Tengizchevroil (TCO), as well as the delivery of oil to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline remain uninterrupted.
Kazakhstan's energy ministry also said oil shipments via the CPC are being carried out normally without restrictions.
"At the moment there are no restrictions on receiving Kazakh oil into the system of CPC," the Kazakh energy ministry said in a statement. It said loading was being carried out "in normal mode, according to schedule" via the third mooring point, which was still in operation.
Separately, three industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday that Kazakhstan will have to start cutting its record high oil production within days due to reduced intake on the CPC.
Another source said that repair work at the CPC terminal would take more than a month.
A trader said he had not heard of any planned cuts to Kazakh production yet.
"One jetty is still loading, there is capacity for storage of five days at port. If the situation is not resolved in five days, then production cuts will be needed," he said.
Citing technical outages, Russia has closed the CPC moorings in the past. Operations were suspended in 2022 and 2023 due to damage and storms, interrupting CPC exports and hitting Kazakhstan's output.
In February, a Ukrainian drone attack struck a pumping station along the pipeline serving the terminal, according to CPC and Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft.
The pipeline had been set to export 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), or approximately 6.5 million metric tons, in April, Reuters reported.
It exported more than 63 million metric tons (1.4 million bpd) in 2024.
CPC's top shareholders are Transneft (24%) and Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas (19%) while U.S. majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil also hold stakes.oil-gas
01 April 2025Pipeline Gas Journal
Gas Producers Warn Australia Opposition’S Export Plan Could Deepen Supply Shortfall(Reuters) — Global gas giants said on Tuesday an election campaign proposal by Australia's opposition coalition that would force producers to direct more export gas into the domestic market would deter investment without tackling looming shortages.
Energy has emerged as a major campaign issue ahead of the May 3 general election, with the conservative Liberal-National coalition pledging to bring down power bills through a gas reservation scheme.
The center left Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese introduced a price cap on gas wholesale prices in 2022 and has implemented regulatory and other measures to meet domestic energy needs and reduce emissions.
At a conference in Sydney, Australian executives of Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron pushed back on the coalition's proposal, arguing more government intervention would hamper the development of gas supply.
Cecile Wake, chair of Shell Australia, which exports gas from the Queensland Curtis LNG project in the state of Queensland, said export controls were not the solution.
"The fact that the easiest lever the federal government now has to solve the southern gas problem is export controls, is not a reason to pull that lever harder," she said.
"This does not increase supply; it simply redistributes it and when coupled with price caps and other market interventions, it can impede investment and exacerbate the challenge."
Australia exports more gas than it consumes, but its major reserves are located mostly in the northwest, far from the southeast where most people live, and demand is highest. The competition regulator has warned eastern states that they could face a gas shortage by 2027.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s plan would force exporters on the east coast - mainly QCLNG and Australia Pacific LNG operated by ConocoPhillips - to direct 10% to 20% more product into the domestic market, with the extra supply coming from uncontracted gas sold on international spot markets.
Chevron Australia managing director Mark Hatfield contrasted Dutton’s proposal with a gas reservation scheme in the state of Western Australia, where Chevron is a major producer.
Its prospective application allowed the company to assess the policy before signing long-term contracts, which was “quite different” to Dutton's plan, he said.
“Energy security is an easy target to be a political football ... some of the things we're seeing right now is maybe some short-term fixes that could have long-term implications with negative outcomes,” Hatfield said.
ExxonMobil Australia, which produces gas in the Bass Strait, the main supply source for the eastern states, said expanding production was “the key to ensuring reliable and affordable gas”.
“Regulatory restrictions that prevent or impede development of new gas supply have become worse and risks that are normal in oil and gas markets such as geologic and engineering risk have been replaced by government policy and regulatory risk,” commercial director David Berman said.oil-gas
01 April 2025Pipeline Gas Journal
Boardwalk’S Texas Gas Launches Open Season For 2 Bcf/D Marcellus-To-Louisiana Pipeline Expansion(P&GJ) — Texas Gas Transmission LLC has launched a non-binding open season for its proposed Borealis Natural Gas Pipeline Expansion Project, which aims to deliver up to 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of firm transportation capacity from the Marcellus and Utica shale basins to markets from Ohio to Louisiana.
The Borealis Project, led by Texas Gas’ parent company Boardwalk Pipelines LP, would enhance the existing 5,975-mile system by connecting Appalachian gas supplies with growing demand from electric utilities, LNG exporters, industrial users, and data centers in the Midwest and Gulf Coast.
RELATED: Boardwalk Approves 110-Mile, 1.16 Bcf/d Mississippi Kosci Junction Pipeline Project
“This project strengthens the link between some of America's most abundant energy reserves and the communities and industries that rely on them every day,” said Scott Hallam, president and CEO of Texas Gas. “It reflects Boardwalk's ongoing commitment to meeting demand through innovative infrastructure solutions that create long-term value and meaningful impact.”
Texas Gas said the expansion will primarily leverage existing infrastructure to reduce costs and limit new construction. The company is also open to upstream extensions to improve access to Marcellus and Utica supplies.
The open season runs from April 1 through April 30, 2025. Interested shippers must execute a confidentiality agreement to receive more detailed information. The preferred transportation term is 20 years, though other durations will be considered.
Following the open season, Texas Gas will begin discussions with participants and could move toward binding commitments for capacity.
Mary Holcomb is the Digital Editor & Operations Manager at Gulf Energy Information, overseeing the Pipeline & Gas Journal, World Oil, and Underground Infrastructure brands. With over 5 years of experience, she drives digital content strategy and operations for these industry-leading publications.oil-gas
01 April 2025Gas Processing and LNG
Europe Could Need An Extra $11 B Of Gas To Refill Winter StoresEurope may need up to an extra 250 cargoes of LNG this year, costing at least $11 B to refill its depleted gas stores ahead of winter, with Ukraine requiring at least another 30 cargoes, according to analysts and data.
Demand during winter 2024-25 was higher than the year before due to colder and less windy weather, resulting in more withdrawals from European Union stores, which are now just under 34% full, the lowest since 2022.
Based on current European Commission targets, set to help prevent supply shortages following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, gas storage sites across the EU must be 90% full again by Nov. 1.
With more gas to buy and fewer supplies coming by pipeline, Europe will need to rely on globally traded LNG and pay a premium to attract cargoes in competition with buyers in Asia.
"Europe will have to buy fairly aggressively this spring and summer to refill inventories," Jason Feer, global head of business intelligence at energy and shipping brokerage Poten and Partners, told a webinar.
Hitting the 90% target would require 57.7 billion cubic metres of net injections, 25.8 bcm more year on year, or up to 250 extra LNG cargoes, according to analytics firm Kpler.
Based on the current benchmark European gas price of around 41 euros per megawatt-hour, this would be an additional cost of 10.3 billion euros ($11.1 billion) to fill storage sites this year, according to Reuters calculations.
Kpler is forecasting an average gas price of $13.17 per million British thermal units, or around 41.60 euros/MWh over the April 1 to October 31 injection season, up 19% year-on-year.
Target missed. But few in the market think Europe will meet its target. "What may happen is that the November 1 target is going to be delayed so it will give more wiggle room or more room to manoeuvre for European importers to meet targets this year," senior LNG analyst Steven Swindells at Poten and Partners said.
Indeed, the European Commission is considering relaxing storage requirements, with the latest proposal suggesting hitting 90% any time between October 1 and December 1 while also accepting lower levels in some cases to ease market pressure.
According to Kpler, EU stores could be 76-78% full by November 1 and still be compliant with likely new regulations, Regalado said. This would still require an additional 120 LNG cargoes year on year, analysts said.
Ukraine. Adding to the competition for supplies, Ukraine's gas stores are almost completely empty after attacks by Russian forces have cut domestic gas production. "We now estimate that Ukraine will need 3-6 bcm of gas imports to fill its storage," Regalado said.
LSEG analyst Yuriy Onishkiv told a webinar that Ukraine would need to import up to 5 bcm, at least 3 bcm of which would have to be supplied in the form of LNG from the United States and delivered to terminals in Poland and Lithuania.
This translates to roughly 30 cargos, based on Reuters calculations.
No market incentive. The refilling need has elevated gas prices for the summer, typically a period of low demand used to buy gas for storage. Summer contracts have even traded at a premium to next winter ones in recent months, and injecting LNG or gas into European storage is not expected to make traders any money, Poten and Partners' Feer said.
"That's certainly going to discourage storage fills unless that market structure changes," he said. The first signs of such a change are perhaps emerging, with Europe's benchmark forward contracts becoming more expensive than nearer-term ones.
That "signals that we can actually have incentives to inject at some point in the near future," Kpler's Regalado said.
Without such a market-based incentive, governments may need to offer subsidies to ensure stores are refilled, a move previously mooted by Germany.oil-gas
01 April 2025Gas Processing and LNG
Gas Giants Say Australia Opposition’S Plan To Reserve Supplies Could Worsen ShortfallGlobal gas giants said an election campaign proposal by Australia's opposition coalition that would force producers to direct more export gas into the domestic market would deter investment without tackling looming shortages.
Energy has emerged as a major campaign issue ahead of the May 3 general election, with the conservative Liberal-National coalition pledging to bring down power bills through a gas reservation scheme.
The center left Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese introduced a price cap on gas wholesale prices in 2022, and has implemented regulatory and other measures to meet domestic energy needs and reduce emissions.
At a conference in Sydney, Australian executives of Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron pushed back on the coalition's proposal, arguing more government intervention would hamper the development of gas supply. Cecile Wake, chair of Shell Australia, which exports gas from the Queensland Curtis LNG project in the state of Queensland, said export controls were not the solution.
"The fact that the easiest lever the federal government now has to solve the southern gas problem is export controls, is not a reason to pull that lever harder," she said. "This does not increase supply; it simply redistributes it and when coupled with price caps and other market interventions, it can impede investment and exacerbate the challenge."
Australia exports more gas than it consumes, but its major reserves are located mostly in the northwest, far from the southeast where most people live and demand is highest. The competition regulator has warned eastern states could face a gas shortage by 2027.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s plan would force exporters on the east coast - mainly QCLNG and Australia Pacific LNG operated by ConocoPhillips - to direct 10% to 20% more product into the domestic market, with the extra supply coming from uncontracted gas sold on international spot markets.
Chevron Australia managing director Mark Hatfield contrasted Dutton’s proposal with a gas reservation scheme in the state of Western Australia, where Chevron is a major producer.
Its prospective application allowed the company to assess the policy before signing long-term contracts, which was “quite different” to Dutton's plan, he said. “Energy security is an easy target to be a political football ... some of the things we're seeing right now is maybe some short-term fixes that could have long-term implications with negative outcomes,” Hatfield said.
ExxonMobil Australia, which produces gas in the Bass Strait, the main supply source for the eastern states, said expanding production was “the key to ensuring reliable and affordable gas”.
“Regulatory restrictions that prevent or impede development of new gas supply have become worse and risks that are normal in oil and gas markets such as geologic and engineering risk have been replaced by government policy and regulatory risk,” commercial director David Berman said.oil-gas
01 April 2025Gas Processing and LNG
Japan'S Tokyo Gas Expands In U.S. Shale Gas With Chevron DealTG Natural Resources LLC (TGNR), co-owned by Tokyo Gas and Castleton Commodities International, has bought a 70% stake in east Texas gas assets from Chevron for $525 MM, as it expands its U.S. gas business.
TGNR is already the fourth biggest producer in the Haynesville shale basin and the deal would allow it to reap synergies of over $170 MM during the asset's development, Craig Jarchow, the company's chief executive, said in a statement.
Haynesville's location in east Texas and northwest Louisiana is ideal for exports from liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and projects clustered on the nearby Gulf Coast, and has investors' attention as U.S. President Donald Trump aims to boost gas exports.
Yoshihisa Yamada, senior general manager at Tokyo Gas, told reporters on Tuesday that the new investment had been under consideration since before Trump's return to the office, but that the deal is in line with both countries' common aim to strengthen energy security by boosting LNG supplies from the U.S. to Japan.
The asset is expected to produce 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day in 2030, he said, adding that Tokyo Gas is considering investing in LNG liquefaction in the United States but no specific decisions have been made.
Tokyo Gas, Japan's largest city gas provider, said last week it wanted to increase coordination between its LNG trading and shale gas businesses in the U.S. and expand there, as it sees shale gas as a major profit pillar in the coming years.oil-gas
01 April 2025ARABIAN GULF BUSINESS INSIGHT
Uganda Signs Deal With Uae Company Over Oil RefineryUganda on Saturday signed an oil refinery agreement with UAE-based Alpha MBM Investments for a 60 percent stake in a crude oil refinery in Kabaale, Hoima District, President Yoweri Museveni’s office said in a statement.
The country’s state-run Uganda National Oil Company will retain the remaining 40 percent stake in the 60,000-barrel-per-day refinery, according to the statement.
Besides the refinery deal, Uganda and UAE investors also signed five other agreements in various sectors.
Earlier this year, Uganda’s energy minister said the country was in negotiations to develop a planned $4 billion oil refinery with Alpha MBM Investments.
The UAE-based investment firm’s website says it is led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s royal family.
Discussions on key commercial terms between the Ugandan government and Alpha MBM Investments began on January 16 and had been expected to conclude within three months, according to the minister of energy and mineral development Ruth Nankabirwa.
The 60,000-barrel-per-day refinery is a cornerstone of Uganda’s emerging hydrocarbons industry, playing a vital role in the country’s energy strategy.oil-gas
31 March 2025Pipeline Gas Journal
Angry At Putin, Trump Warns Of Tariffs On Russian Oil Imports(Reuters) — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was "pissed off" at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Putin last week criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's leadership, the television network reported, citing a telephone interview early on Sunday.
Since taking office in January, Trump has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that has left Western allies wary as he tries to broker an end to Moscow's three-year-old war in Ukraine.
His sharp comments about Putin on Sunday reflect his growing frustration about the lack of movement on a ceasefire.
"If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault ... I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.
“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Trump later reiterated to reporters he was disappointed with Putin but added: "I think we are making progress, step by step."
Trump said he could impose the new trade measures within a month.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow. Russia has called numerous Western sanctions and restrictions “illegal” and designed for the West to take economic advantage in its rivalry with Russia.
Trump, who spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC News he planned to speak with Putin this week. The two leaders have had two publicly announced telephone calls in recent months but may have had more contacts, the Kremlin said in video footage last week.
The White House had no immediate comment on when the call would take place, or if Trump would also speak with Zelenskiy.
Trump has focused heavily on ending what he calls a "ridiculous" war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but has made little progress.
Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelenskiy.
Trump, who himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and denounced Zelenskiy as a dictator, said Putin knows he is angry with him. But Trump added he had “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly ... if he does the right thing.”
Growing Pressure to End War
Trump's comments followed a day of meetings and golf with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Saturday, during Stubb's surprise visit to Florida.
Stubb's office on Sunday said he told Trump a deadline needs to be set for establishing a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire to make it happen and suggested April 20 since Trump would have been in office then for three months.
U.S. officials have been separately pushing Kyiv to accept a critical minerals agreement, a summary of which suggested the U.S. was demanding all Ukraine's natural resources income for years. Zelenskiy has said Kyiv's lawyers need to review the draft before he can say more about the U.S. offer.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One he thought Zelenskiy was "trying to back out of the rare earth deal.... if he's looking to renegotiate the deal, he's got big problems." Trump also told reporters that Ukraine would never be part of NATO.
Trump's latest tariff threats would add to the pain already facing China, India and other countries through trade measures imposed during his first two months in office, including duties on steel, aluminum and cars. More duties on imports from the countries with the largest trade surpluses are slated to be announced on Wednesday.
William Reinsch, a former senior Commerce Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the haphazard way Trump was announcing and threatening tariffs leaves many questions unanswered, including how U.S. officials could trace and prove which countries were buying Russian oil.
Trump set the stage for Sunday's news with a 25% secondary tariff imposed last week on U.S. imports from any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela.
His remarks to NBC suggest he could take similar action against U.S. imports from countries that buy oil from Russia, a move that could hit China and India particularly hard.
The U.S. has not imported any Russian barrels of crude oil since April 2022, according to U.S. government data. Before that, U.S. refiners bought inconsistent volumes of Russian oil, with a high of 98.1 million barrels in 2010 and low of 6.6 million in 2014, according to a review of EIA data since 2000.
India has surpassed China to become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude, which comprised about 35% of India's total crude imports in 2024.
Trump on Sunday also said he could hit buyers of Iranian oil with secondary sanctions if Tehran did not reach an agreement to end their nuclear weapons program.oil-gas
31 March 2025Global ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE
Willis Sustainable Fuels Selects Ft Cans To Boost Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production In The UkThis is your 1 News posts out of 3 that you are entitled to as a guest.
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-- Johnson Matthey press release --
Johnson Matthey (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies, today announced that Willis Sustainable Fuels (WSF) has selected JM and bp’s award-winning Fischer Tropsch (FT) CANS™ technology for WSF’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in Teesside, Northeast England.
The project, which is expected to be operational in 2028, plans to be the first of its kind in the UK. The facility intends to use a biomethane feedstock, processed into syngas using JM’s proven reforming technology. This syngas will feed the JM/bp FT CANS technology to produce synthetic crude oil that can be upgraded and blended to SAF. Once operational, the WSF facility plans to produce 14 thousand tonnes of SAF blendstock per year.
Teesside is becoming an active location in the UK for SAF production, with Teesside International Airport’s own net zero strategy setting ambitions for it to use SAF to achieve net zero flights by 2035 and to be the UK’s first net zero airport[1].
WSF’s planned development was one of five Teesside-based projects to receive funding from round two of the Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund[2] which enables the commercial deployment of fuel production technologies capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the UK aviation industry.
Alberto Giovanzana, Managing Director Licensing at Johnson Matthey, said: “As a UK-headquartered company, we’re excited our technology has been selected to be part of this innovative UK project. With our FT CANS development and testing facilities located in Teesside, and projects like this in development, we see the North East as a leader in efforts to meet the UK SAF mandate. We look forward to working with Willis Sustainable Fuels to develop SAF in the region ...and beyond!”
Amy Ruddock, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Aviation & Corporate Development at Willis Lease Finance Corporation, the parent company of WSF, said: “Partnering with Johnson Matthey and other industry leaders enables us to drive meaningful progress toward our vision of connecting the world through sustainable flight.”
“This pioneering project will demonstrate the potential of our Carbonshift pathway, which can leverage various sustainable feedstocks and be tailored to produce power-to-liquids—helping to shape the future of aviation fuels.”oil-gas
31 March 2025ARABIAN GULF BUSINESS INSIGHT
Data Is The New Oil – And The Industry AgreesFrom the signing of the concession by King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud to explore for oil in Saudi Arabia, it took 15 years until the first discovery of crude oil at the abundant Dammam Number 7 well in 1938.
If the American and Saudi explorers who eventually made the strike had the benefit of modern artificial intelligence and digital survey techniques, that same process could have been completed in months – or even weeks.
Such is the transformational potential of AI in global oil and gas. The industry is jumping enthusiastically on the AI bandwagon as a silver bullet for its challenges – not only in exploration and production, but also in the long-term goal of energy transition and decarbonisation.
At the recent CERAWeek conference of energy leaders in Houston, at least 25 per cent of panels were specifically on the AI and digital revolution, and almost every conversation included it as a top priority in the energy agenda.
The Arabian Gulf oil producers were particularly enthusiastic.
Adnoc CEO Dr Sultan Al Jaber told the conference: “Using AI, we are speeding up our upstream seismic analysis from months to hours. We are increasing the accuracy of production forecasts by up to 90 percent and we are on course to make Adnoc the most AI-enabled energy company in the world.”
Not to be outdone, his Saudi counterpart Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, said: “AI will be a game-changing enabler in energy”.
Gulf national oil companies (NOCs) and energy ministries are increasingly investing in AI not only to streamline exploration and optimise production but to model demand, manage risk, and to forecast price movements on global markets.
In Houston, the discussion was about how AI can process millions of data points – weather patterns, tanker traffic, refinery outages, economic indicators, geopolitical sentiment, even Twitter (or rather, X) chatter – to generate price scenarios that are faster and more accurate than traditional analyst models.
An AI-powered oil market may sound like science fiction. But for Gulf energy leaders, it could be the next step
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are both pouring billions into AI initiatives under their broader economic visions, building predictive models not just for seismic analysis and efficiency but for market insight, exploring price modeling as a tool for trading and hedging.
The idea of an AI-powered oil market may sound like science fiction. But for Gulf energy leaders, it could be the next step in transforming from hydrocarbon exporters to information superpowers.
There is an interesting side question of whether the rest of the global trading community will accept the validity of trading data derived from Gulf-originated AI systems.
Are the Gulf NOCs just “talking their book”, or does their decades-long expertise in energy give them a natural advantage in analysis that will only be enhanced by AI? How would the traders regard an AI-powered Opec, for example?
Whatever, it is clear that AI can do a lot for the energy industry. But the flip side of the coin is what the energy industry – with the trillions of dollars of assets on the balance sheets of NOCs and independent oil companies – can do for AI.
The other big theme of CERAWeek concerned the huge amounts of energy that will be required to power the AI revolution. One estimate had it that by next year, the energy needs of all new data centres would be the equivalent of the entire annual electricity consumption of Japan.
The Gulf can help to satisfy this demand by ensuring continued supplies of reliable and affordable energy in the form of hydrocarbon fuels, but also via investment into big AI projects at home and internationally.
This process is under way too, with multi-billion dollar investment deals announced recently by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and by MGX, the new Abu Dhabi technology investment company.
AI is no longer just a Silicon Valley obsession – it has become an essential tool in the oil and gas world, especially in the Arabian Gulf where energy remains the economic backbone of government strategy.
In 2017 The Economist magazine carried a cover story calling data “the world’s most valuable resource”, which popularised the phrase “Data is the new oil”.
Many thought that premature, as crude grabbed the headlines again and again through pandemics, wars and economic turbulence. After CERAWeek in Houston, it looks like a scoop.
Frank Kane is Editor-at-Large of AGBI and an award-winning business journalist. He acts as a consultant to the Ministry of Energy of Saudi Arabiaoil-gas
31 March 2025World Oil
Norway'S $8 Billion Johan Castberg Offshore Development Begins Oil Production(Bloomberg) -- Norway’s 86 billion kroner ($8.1 billion) Johan Castberg oil development in the Barents Sea has started pumping, the second major field to begin operations in the country’s Arctic waters.
The project, developed by Equinor ASA and partner Var Energi ASA, will reach peak production of about 220,000 barrels of oil a day, Equinor said in a statement on Monday. The cost of the development should be covered in less than two years, with the field’s productive lifetime expected to extend for 30 years.
The Norwegian government is keen to maintain its position as a key energy supplier to Europe, and sees the largely unexplored Arctic region as the main source of future output. Estimated to hold more than 60% of the country’s undiscovered hydrocarbons, the Barents Sea has long tempted the oil and gas industry, even as harsh conditions and the lack of infrastructure make developing the region difficult.
“Johan Castberg opens a new region for oil recovery and will create more opportunities in the Barents Sea,” Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s executive vice president for exploration and production Norway, said in the statement. “We’ve already made new discoveries in the area and will keep exploring together with our partners.”
With 12 of the 30 total wells ready, Johan Castberg is expected to reach plateau production in the second quarter of 2025, Equinor said. The company holds a 46% stake in the project, Var Energi 30% and Petoro the remainder. The field is estimated to hold recoverable hydrocarbon volumes of between 450 and 650 million barrels.oil-gas
31 March 2025