Europe LNG import capacity set to expand by one-third by end of 2024

LNG import capacity in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) will expand by 34%, or 6.8 B cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), by 2024 compared with 2021, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

According to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) and trade press data. Expansions of import, or regasification, capacity will total 5.3 Bcf/d by the end of next year and grow further by an additional 1.5 Bcf/d by the end of 2024.

LNG regasification capacity in the EU-27 and the UK remained relatively stable and expanded modestly in the last 10 years, by 2.8 Bcf/d (16%), from 17.5 Bcf/d in 2012 to 20.2 Bcf/d at the end of 2021, according to data from GIIGNL. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the reduction in natural gas pipeline imports from Russia that followed, European countries have reactivated development of previously dormant regasification projects and have started development of new projects.

Many of the new regasification projects in Europe can be developed relatively quickly by chartering Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) and by building pipelines to transport regasified natural gas to connecting pipelines onshore. Other regasification projects in Europe will expand capacity at the existing onshore terminals and implement upgrades to increase existing terminals' throughput.

So far this year, approximately 1.7 Bcf/d of the new and expanded LNG regasification capacity has been added in the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Italy, and Germany. The new EemsEnergy terminal in the Netherlands (0.8 Bcf/d capacity) consists of two FSRU vessels and received its first import cargo in September 2022. A new FSRU terminal at Wilhelmshaven Port in Germany (0.7 Bcf/d capacity) has been completed in November 2022.

As per MRC, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and QatarEnergy have signed a long-term Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) purchase and sales agreement for the annual supply of four million tons of LNG to Sinopec. Both parties will work together on Qatar's North Field Expansion Project. The 27-year long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement is an important part of the integrated cooperation between the two sides. Sinopec Chairman Ma Yongsheng and Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, H.E. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, formally signed the agreement together during an online ceremony.
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Chevron Corp received a U.S. license allowing the second-largest U.S. oil company to expand its production in Venezuela and bring the South American country's crude oil to the United States, said Reuters.

The decision grants broader rights for the last big U.S. oil company still operating in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela. However, it restricts any cash payments to Venezuela, which could reduce the oil available to export.

License terms are designed to prevent state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA, from receiving proceeds from Chevron's petroleum sales, U.S. officials said. The license lasts for six months and will be automatically renewed monthly thereafter, the U.S. Treasury said.

The U.S. authorization "brings added transparency to the Venezuelan oil sector" and allows Chevron to benefit from sales of "oil that is currently being produced" by its joint ventures with PDVSA, the California-based company said in a statement.

Following oil sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, Chevron received an exemption to trade its Venezuelan crude to recoup pending debts. But those privileges were suspended a year later. Chevron's four PDVSA joint ventures produced about 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil and exported the crude around the world prior to the sanctions.

The United States issued the license on the same day that Venezuela and opposition leaders began a political dialogue in Mexico City by agreeing to ask the United Nations to oversee a fund providing food, healthcare and infrastructure to Venezuelans.

We remind, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC and QatarEnergy announced that they are proceeding with the construction of an USD8.5 B integrated polymers facility in Orange, Texas, expected to create more than 500 full-time jobs and approximately 4,500 construction jobs and generate an estimated USD50 B for the community in residual economic impacts.

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Maire Tecnimont announced that its subsidiary KT – Kinetics Technology has been awarded an EPCM (Engineering, Procurement & Construction Management) contract by Motor Oil Hellas (MOH) for a new C3 splitter unit to be implemented inside the Corinth Refinery, in Greece, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

MOH is a leading oil refining company in Greece and a key market player in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.

The contract value is equal to EUR80 MM and relates to the execution of a new C3 splitter unit aimed at separating the mixture of propane and propylene coming from the existing fluid catalytic cracking unit in order to produce polymer grade propylene, one of the most important building blocks for the entire chemical industry.

The contract's scope of work includes full engineering activities and supply of all materials and equipment as well as construction supervision services, while construction activities will be carried out by subcontractors directly selected by the client, under KT-Kinetics Technology’s responsibility and management. The Corinth Refinery is among the most complex refineries of its kind in Europe and processes crude oil of various characteristics to produce a full range of high-end products.

Alessandro Bernini, Maire Tecnimont Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This important award represents a new significant step to strengthen the business relationship with a leading player such as MOH, thanks to our technological know-how and process expertise, which will ensure the best environmentally performing standards. We are glad to support the industrial development plans envisaged by MOH, as it is set to play an increasingly strategic role in the energy transition in the Mediterranean region”.

We remind, Maire Tecnimont’s subsidiary NextChem, through the associate company GCB Polymers, inaugurates a new re-processing and upcycling plant for polymers today in the Kezad Industrial Zone, in the UAE capital city Abu Dhabi. This new plant processes a very wide range of polymer products, from near to prime to the lower end of plant scraps, post-industrial and post-consumer waste, and also recycled polymers.

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China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation's has announced that the first phase of the Qijiang shale gas field has uncovered a major discovery in Sichuan Basin with a proven geological reserve of 145.968 billion cubic meters, said the company.

The discovery, delivered by Sinopec Exploration Company and Sinopec Southwest Oil & Gas Company, is a major breakthrough in Sinopec's "Project Deep Earth – Natural Gas Base in Sichuan and Chongqing."

The Qijiang shale gas field is the first shale gas field discovered in medium-deep and deep strata in a complex tectonic zone on the margin of the basin. Shale gas buried at the depth of over 3,500 meters is defined as deep shale, and the burial depth of Qijiang's shale formations ranges from 1,900 to 4,500 meters, with the majority being deep shale. With complex overlying strata, the project faced great challenges such as a significantly greater depth and variable ground stress.

To tackle the question of how a shale gas reservoir was formed in the basin margin with such complex surface and underground conditions, Sinopec's team conducted more than 10,000 lab analysis tests on the core at the depth of 1,320 meters. This revealed the development and maintenance mechanism of deep shelf shale pores and identified the deep shale can develop vast reservoirs with high porosity, and also revealed the "sweet spots" of projecting the deep shale targets.

The team collected high-precision 3D seismic data of deep shale gas covering an area of 3,662 square kilometers in the complex zone of the southeastern margin of the Sichuan Basin as well as drilling data of existing wells in southern Sichuan. After repeated discussion and screening, Sinopec has innovated a deep shale gas seismic prediction technology with pressure coefficient and gas content, fracture prediction and horizontal ground stress difference as the core – the equivalent of performing a CT scan of the strata to achieve the breakthrough in predicting the "sweet spots" of deep shale gas.

Sinopec also developed a three-dimensional fracturing technology with "precision cutting, pressurization and expansion, balanced expansion and guaranteed filling" for deep shale, which has improved the daily shale gas production of a single well to break the 300,000, 400,000 and 500,000 cubic meters marks in succession.

As per MRC, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and QatarEnergy have signed a long-term Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) purchase and sales agreement for the annual supply of four million tons of LNG to Sinopec. Both parties will work together on Qatar's North Field Expansion Project. The 27-year long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement is an important part of the integrated cooperation between the two sides. Sinopec Chairman Ma Yongsheng and Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, H.E. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, formally signed the agreement together during an online ceremony.

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China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and QatarEnergy have signed a long-term Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) purchase and sales agreement for the annual supply of four million tons of LNG to Sinopec, said the company.

Both parties will work together on Qatar's North Field Expansion Project. The 27-year long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement is an important part of the integrated cooperation between the two sides. Sinopec Chairman Ma Yongsheng and Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy, H.E. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, formally signed the agreement together during an online ceremony.

China and Qatar have enjoyed friendly and close ties while building synergies in the energy sector, Ma said. The healthy level of diplomacy creates a favorable environment for both sides to continuously deepen their cooperation.

"The signing of this agreement aligns with Sinopec's adherence to green, low-carbon, safe, and sustainable development," Ma said. "The LNG supply will help meet the demand for natural gas in the Chinese market, but also further optimize China's energy mix while enhancing the security, stability, and reliability of energy supply."

"We are delighted to have reached this agreement, which will further strengthen the excellent bilateral relationship between China and Qatar," said H.E. Mr. Al-Kaabi. "The agreement will help to meet China's growing demand for clean energy. This cooperation, which spans different fields and will last for 27 years, marks an extraordinary and exciting new chapter of cooperation between the two sides.

Commissioning of the Northern Gas Field Expansion Project is slated for 2026. This agreement is the second long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement signed between Sinopec and QatarEnergy, and the first long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement for the Project.

We remind, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has successfully produced China's first batch of large tow carbon fiber at the company's production base in Shanghai, making the company the first in the country and fourth in the world to possess large tow carbon fiber technology.

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