Liquefaction News

Samsung Heavy Industries announced on November 18 that it successfully held a demonstration ceremony at the Geoje shipyard for "SENSE IV (SAMSUNG Enhanced Nitrogen Split Exapnsion IV)", SHI's in-house natural gas liquefaction system.The demonstration, which began on November 16, was attended by several major LNG producers and classification societies.The natural gas liquefaction system, called "An LNG plant on the sea," is one of the main processes of FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas)…

During the fourth quarter of 2019, spot LNG freight rates continued to strengthen with average reported headline rates for MEGI/X-DF LNG carriers increasing by 66% from $74,800 per day to $123,800 per day, according to Flex LNG.Rates increased steadily due to higher demand preparing for winter in Northern Asia, as well as continued floating storage, Flex LNG said.Trading patterns and LNG pricing however, continue to favor Europe as the main destination for incremental uncommitted LNG volumes due to the low spread in gas prices between Asia and Europe, as well as greater infrastructure capacity in Europe for regasification and storage.According to industry sources…

US-based Freeport LNG has started commercial operations at its second of three planned liquefaction trains.Freeport LNG Train 3 remains on track to meet its previously announced schedule, with initial production of LNG scheduled for Q1 of 2020, said McDermott International, Inc. with its partners, Chiyoda International Corporation and Zachry Group."We continue to advance the Freeport LNG Project with another significant accomplishment, the commercial operation of Train 2," said Mark Coscio, McDermott's Senior Vice President for North, Central and South America."Congratulations to the joint venture project team who has maintained a commitment to safety and quality.

Ocean LNG has dominated in terms of long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) import volumes for contracts signed by key purchasing companies for the year 2019, with almost 47% of the global contracted capacity.According to a report by GlobalData, Ocean LNG signed the biggest long-term LNG contract for 2019 with Golden Pass Products. According to the contract, Golden Pass Products will supply Ocean LNG with 15.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG for a period of 20 years, from 2024 to 2044.The gas will be supplied from the Golden Pass II LNG liquefaction terminal in Texas, US, it said.Sunrita Dutta, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, explains: “Ocean LNG is a joint venture (JV) between Qatar Petroleum, which owns a 70% stake, and Exxon Mobil Corporation, with 30%.

Malaysian oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) would build a third floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG)unit if there’s a demand.Petronas is the only company to own and operate two FLNGs, namely PFLNG Satu and PFLNG Dua.Bernama reported, quoting the gas and new energy business executive vice-president and chief executive officer Adnan Zainal Abidin, that if there is a reservoir with a sizeable amount of reserves and with the right gas composition that it is economically viable, it opens up a case for another floater.According to the Bernama report, while the first two FLNGs are Malaysia-bound, the third one might be deployed elsewhere…

Supported by low LNG prices, the LNG spot and short term market continues to represent an ever increasing share of global LNG trade, said Golar LNG, a liquefied natural gas shipping company registered in Bermuda."Continued strong growth in LNG production around the world and associated lower pricing together with customer’s increased focus on their ESG responsibility is also accelerating their appetite to switch from burning coal, fuel oil and diesel to cheaper and cleaner LNG," Iain Ross, CEO, Golar LNG, said.Dominated by US projects, 114mtpa of new liquefaction capacity is slated to come on stream between 2020 and 2025. Based on current…

ABS has announced that it has awarded approval in principle (AiP) to Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for its innovative X-Reli LNG Boil Off Gas Expander – part of SHI’s Expansion Re-Liquefaction System.According to the statement from the South Korean shipbuilder the X-Reli system is optimized for low and medium pressure application, which SHI says offers increased efficiency and reliability over existing high-pressure re-liquefaction systems.“Re-liquefaction is a useful capability for owners and operators, offering increased flexibility and the potential to maximize cargo delivery. The ability to operate this at low or medium pressure reduces barriers to adoption of the technology and ABS is proud to be able to facilitate this…

NextDecade Corporation announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued an order authorizing the siting, construction and operation of its proposed Rio Grande LNG export facility in Brownsville, Texas.“Issuance of the FERC order marks an extremely important milestone for our project,” said Matt Schatzman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) development company.“We appreciate the comprehensive and rigorous review of our project conducted by the FERC and numerous other federal, state and local agencies over the last four and a half years,” Schatzman added.NextDecade currently anticipates finalizing important commercial milestones during the fourth quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020…

UK-based engineering services company Babcock said that its liquefied gas equipment (LGE) arm has netted 26 orders in the LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier markets so far this year.Having won 16 contracts in the LPG carrier market, plus a further 10 ecoSMRT contracts for LNG carriers so far in 2019, the company continues to thrive in challenging market conditions.Now contracted to deliver LPG Fuel Gas Supply System (ecoFGSS) on six LPG carriers in a range of sizes, including the world’s first new-build system, Babcock’s LGE business dominates the sector whilst maintaining LPG and LNG carrier market share.Using LPG as a fuel supports shipowners in compliance with global environmental legislation and reduces a ship’s environmental footprint.Neale Campbell, Managing Director of Ba

The US is forecast to drive new-build, liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction capacity additions globally from planned and announced (new-build) projects between 2019 and 2023, contributing around 73% of global new-build LNG liquefaction capacity growth by 2023, according to a report by GlobalData.The US is expected to account for a new-build LNG liquefaction capacity of 156.9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from planned and announced projects by 2023. Of this, 79 mtpa of capacity comes from planned projects, while the rest is from announced projects, said the report from the data and analytics company.Adithya Rekha, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, said: “The US is expected to add capacity of 156.9 mtpa from 17 new-build LNG liquefaction terminals by 2023.

Japanese public multinational corporation Kawasaki Heavy Industries and its subsidiary company based in Melbourne Hydrogen Engineering Australia announced commencement of construction work to build the Hydrogen Liquefaction and Loading Terminal for the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project (Project).The facility will convert hydrogen gas into liquefied hydrogen, which will be stored and then loaded onto the world’s first specialized marine carrier for transport to Japan. The Project will involve the production of hydrogen from Latrobe Valley brown coal.The Project will create a new innovative technical foundation for the development…

Black & Veatch, the provider of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) topside solutions, announced that it has received a full notice to proceed from Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project for operator BP.The full notice to proceed (FNTP), following a limited notice in December 2018, enables Black & Veatch to team with Keppel Shipyard to convert the Gimi into an FLNG vessel supporting the development of Phase 1 of BP’s Greater Tortue / Ahmeyim field, located offshore Mauritania and Senegal.The Gimi project builds on the successes of the Golar FLNG Hilli Episeyo, which was completed earlier in 2018 and has been in commercial operation offshore…

The world’s biggest operator of liquid petroleum gas ships BW Group has purchased majority stake of Epic Gas and is looking to buy the remaining shares completing the takeover.BW, based in Norway and Singapore, is making the move after acquiring a 54.7% stake from existing owners, said a press release.With the acquisition of the majority stake BW has launched an unconditional tender for all the remaining shares in Epic Gas at a price of $1.60 per share, plus an additional $3.5m divided across all the shares acquired in the offer, to a maximum of $0.10 per share.Epic Gas is the largest commercial operator and second largest owner of small pressurized LPG carriers.

Global seaborne liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) volume is expected to grow by over 6% in 2019 and surpass 100 million tonnes for the first time.Singapore based provider of pressurised LPG vessels, Epic Gas said that it is well positioned to benefit from the improving fundamentals of the LPG shipping market.For the fourth quarter of 2018, freight levels for most sizes in the pressurised sector were similar to the stronger levels seen in the third quarter. Rates for the 3,500cbm, 5,000cbm, 7,500cbm and 11,000cbm averaged $8,671, $9,870, $10,565 and $13,315 per day, respectively, up 12% for the 3,500cbm, 6% for the 5,000cbm and 7,500cbm vessels…

The biggest market change in the fourth calendar quarter of 2018, was the decline in crude oil prices, with Brent falling from a monthly average of nearly $82/barrel in October, finishing the year below $51 per barrel. As a result, global  liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)prices followed the downward trend.Dorian LPG, the Stamford-based owner and operator of 22 very-large gas carriers, said that without the additional LPG cargoes out of Marcus Hook from Mariner East 2, which started operations in January 2019, U.S. exports remained similar to the third calendar quarter of 2018, if not slightly lower.Total LPG exports from the U.S. are estimated at 32.8 million metric tons for the full year, up nearly 10% year-over-year.

The the largest construction company in the United States Bechtel has joined its customer Cheniere Energy to announce production of the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Corpus Christi Liquefaction project in Texas.The leader in project management, engineering, procurement, and construction said in a press release that this production train at the Corpus Christi project is the latest of six trains that Bechtel has delivered with Cheniere at two sites on the U.S. Gulf Coast.The Sabine Pass Liquefaction project in Louisiana produced the first LNG from that site’s fifth train last week, it said.“These achievements further highlight the value this ongoing successful partnership with Cheniere brings for both of us…