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Engie Executive Says Nobody Is Making Money off U.S. Gas Exports

Just as gas export-terminals are preparing to start up along America’s Gulf Coast, the oil-price crash has made it unprofitable to send the U.S. fuel abroad, according to the North America head of power and natural gas supplier Engie. It costs about $2 to liquefy gas and another $3 to take it from the U.S. to Asia, said Zin Smati, president and chief executive officer of Engie’s GDF Suez Energy North America. Engie changed its name from GDF Suez SA in April. Those costs used to leave plenty of profit margin when the gap between LNG prices in Asia and natural gas in the U.S. was more than $14 per million British thermal units. Now, the spread is less than $5, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “You cannot ship gas from the United States anymore,” Smati said at the Council of the Americas energy conference at Rice University […]

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Global LNG market is heading toward a surplus, BRG analyst says

Countries attempting to import more LNG could increase an already growing advantage over suppliers worldwide in the next few years, a market analyst suggested. “Demand growth could be slow for the next few years, but as lower prices sink in, it could start to grow,” said Christopher Goncalvez, a managing director in Berkeley Research Group’s Washington office. “Japan is a huge wild card as it ponders whether to reactivate its idled nuclear power capacity. That creates so many uncertainties.” A global LNG surplus already exists, Goncalvez told an audience at the US Energy Association on Sept. 22. “We have become much more conservative with regard to LNG exports,” he said. “We see a range of 44-63 [billion cu m]/year by 2020. There are some variables out there that might possibly drive exports up a bit. But demand won’t be able to keep up with supply for the next decade.” […]

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Oil Market Doldrums Seen Delaying Sanctions for New LNG Projects

The year-long decline in oil prices has taken its toll on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects worldwide as upstream petroleum firms reduced capital expenditure (CAPEX), including delaying or even cancelling greenfield developments. Currently, at least 46 major projects – holding approximately 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent in resources – have been deferred due to the market downturn, Wood Mackenzie’s Head of Gas and Power Consulting Rajnish Goswami said Sept. 9 at CWC’s 7th World LNG Series: Asia Pacific Summit in Singapore. “LNG prices are under pressure with near term weak demand. Investments in new LNG supply is under threat and $200 million CAPEX [have been] delayed, many of them gas projects,” he added. Pessimism shrouded the industry, affecting upstream investments, as global oil prices have shown little signs of recovery after falling below the psychologically significant $100 a barrel mark just over a year ago. U.S. crude […]

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U.S. FERC alleges Total manipulated natgas market in 2009-2012

People walk past the entrance of French oil giant Total headquarters in the financial and business district of la Defense in Courbevoie near Paris October 21, 2014. U.S. federal energy regulators on Tuesday alleged traders at French energy company Total SA manipulated the natural gas market in the southwest United States between June 2009 and June 2012. The staff alleged the scheme involved making "largely uneconomic trades for physical natural gas during bidweek designed to move indexed market prices in a way that benefited the company’s related positions." This is the latest case in which FERC has alleged manipulation of the power or natural gas markets using loss leader trading – in this case physical trades – to benefit a position in a benchmark or other financial index. In recent years, FERC has alleged violations of similar types of trading manipulation by JPMorgan Chase & Co, which paid $285 […]

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Energy Regulator Alleges Total Manipulated U.S. Natural Gas Market

American regulators have accused French oil company Total SA of manipulating the price of natural gas in the U.S. southwest, the latest move in a widening crackdown on energy-market machinations. From 2009 to 2012, the French company’s Houston-based subsidiary made money-losing gas purchases intended to move prices in a way that helped it make money on other trading positions on at least 38 occasions, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said. According to the regulators, the alleged scheme was conducted by traders on the Total Gas & Power North America West Desk, led by supervisors Therese Nguyen and Aaron Hall. FERC didn’t reveal how much money it believed Total made from the trades, or whether consumer bills were affected. The French oil company issued a written denial, saying it was convinced that no Total employee “committed any of the FERC’s allegations.” Total said it is “fully cooperating with the U.S. […]

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The Dragon Ships Are Coming

Something exciting is happening and it involves dragon ships that will transport Marcellus Shale gas to European markets as an alternative to Russian gas. Range Resources and INEOS have partnered to export Ethane from Marcellus Shale across the Atlantic Ocean, to European Countries, via ship. At 2:43 in the video following they show the Markwest cracker plant, here in Houston, Pennsylvania (Washington County), where they will be supplying Ethane for this. The Ethane is being shipped via the Mariner East I Pipeline , which recently opened, to the Marcus Hook facility in Philadelphia, where “dragon ships” will be loaded for transport to Europe. INEOS also partnered with Danish Shipping Company Evergas in 2013 to transport it to the European Countries who need Ethane to keep their chemical plants in operation. This project is employing ten’s of thousands of workers, in several countries to build the ships. some four ships […]

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Low price, increased generation use means record year for natural gas: Bentek

Record levels for production, power burn and storage injection will make 2015 a record year for natural gas, Jeff Moore, senior energy analyst at Platts unit Bentek Energy, told attendees Friday at the 38th annual Coal Marketing Days conference in Pittsburgh. Moore said that while coal plant retirements have helped fuel an increase in natural gas generation, the real driver behind in the rise in demand is the commodity’s continued low price. With the Henry Hub price staying below $3/MMBtu, natural gas generation is deployed ahead of coal, Moore said. Bentek data shows that natural gas demand has remained above five-year highs for the entire year and it predicts that trend will continue through the end of 2015. Article continues below… Platts Natural Gas Alert provides global coverage of the major natural gas and LNG markets, including real-time spot market transactions reported as deals are done and key end-of-day […]

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Canadian gas exports to U.S. plummet

Canadian energy regulators reports gas exports to the United States are down dramatically. Photo by Heather Snow/Shutterstock CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 17 (UPI) — Canadian natural gas exports to the United States for the seven years ending in 2014 are down significantly because of U.S. shale production, a regulator said. The National Energy Board said in a market snapshot natural gas exports are down dramatically. For the eastern United States, exports are down more than 65 percent for the seven years ending 2014. For the market in the U.S. Midwest, natural gas exports are down nearly 23 percent through 2014. "Rapid development of unconventional gas projects has increased U.S. natural gas production," the NEB said. "As a result, natural gas exports from Canada to the U.S. have been decreasing." NEB said pipeline revisions have shifted exports away from Midwest markets as well. Canada relies heavily on export revenue from oil […]

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Is This The End Of The U.S Shale Gas Revolution

While everyone is watching the oil bust, there is another bust going on – one for natural gas. Before there was a boom in oil production in the United States, there was the “shale gas revolution.” That is where we all became familiar with terms like “fracking.” And the Marcellus, Haynesville, and Barnett Shales were famous long before the Bakken or Permian. The surge in natural gas production crashed prices, fueling a huge increase in activity in petrochemicals and causing a major switch from coal to natural gas in the electric power industry. Aside from a few brief moments (such as the winter of 2014), natural gas has mostly traded around $4 per million Btu (MMBtu) or lower since the financial crisis of 2008. (Click to enlarge) But unlike oil, the boom in shale gas did not stop with plummeting prices. U.S. natural gas production continued to climb. For […]

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IEA: Age of LNG in question

International Energy Agency says short-term planning may jeopardize growth in the LNG industry. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI TOKYO, Sept. 16 (UPI) — Short-term planning from energy policymakers might keep liquefied natural gas off the global stage, the IEA director said during a visit to Tokyo. "If it can compete, then there is a great chance for gas to become a major and relatively clean contributor to energy security," Fatih Birol , the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said during a speech from Japan. "But the current low prices provide only a temporary window of opportunity — an opportunity that policy makers and the industry must seize." The IEA said liquefied natural gas, a super-cooled and denser product with more deliverability options, represents "a golden opportunity" for Asian economies. Asian demand for natural gas is expected to grow steadily through the end of the decade, according to […]

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