Natural gas
Overview
Natural gas has been fuelling industrial and economic growth across developed and developing countries. Its usage is set to increase as it is also being considered as a low-carbon fuel that can help make the transition to a no-to-low-carbon economy. Argus is your irreplaceable source of price information, news, expert analysis and fundamentals data for international natural gas markets.
Whether you need access to key gas prices and indexes, expert commentary on all the latest industry developments, or market data to aid your business planning, we give you the information you need and the expert view to understand it.
Latest natural gas news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global natural gas industry.
Renewable natural gas not ‘major’ for climate: Chevron
Renewable natural gas not ‘major’ for climate: Chevron
New York, 13 June (Argus) — The growth of renewable natural gas (RNG) production is great news for the climate, but "to say that it is having a major impact by itself is difficult," the president of Chevron's global gas division said this week at an industry gathering. The US oil major, which has invested in RNG facilities in California , Michigan and elsewhere in recent years, has also boosted its conventional gas production on the heels of a crude-focused acquisition of a Denver-based producer. "I don't want to get called out (for) greenwashing or whatever because the volume is just very small compared to the overall portfolio," Chevron gas division president Freeman Shaheen said at the Northeast LDC Gas Forum in Boston, Massachusetts. Advocates for RNG hail the fuel, comprising methane from landfills and animal waste projects that is processed into pipeline-quality gas, as a boon for the climate. This is not only because its use displaces conventional natural gas produced in hydrocarbon drilling — so-called ‘fossil gas' — but because its production takes methane that would have been released directly into the atmosphere and burns it as fuel, releasing CO₂ — a less potent greenhouse gas — instead. But RNG today comprises just 0.5pc of the North American gas market. Even with continued policy support and technological development, Wood Mackenzie projects it will grow to just 4 Bcf/d (113mn m³/d), or 3pc of the market, by 2050. This is why some policymakers, such as Massachusetts' utilities regulatory, have rejected gas distributors' calls to decarbonize the gas system with RNG. The energy industry simply has not invested enough in RNG over the past several decades for it to reach the scale needed to play a bigger role in cutting emissions, Shaheen said. By Julian Hast Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
EU parliament to favour e-fuels, hydrogen: EPP lawmaker
EU parliament to favour e-fuels, hydrogen: EPP lawmaker
Brussels, 10 June (Argus) — EU parliament to favour e-fuels, hydrogen: EPP lawmaker The new EU parliament will be more pragmatic in 2024-2029, favour continuation of the internal combustion engine (ICE) beyond 2035 as well as more flexible rules for low-carbon hydrogen, e-fuels, biofuels, and other CO2-neutral fuels, outgoing member of the European Parliament Markus Pieper told Argus . The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) MEP was the key lawmaker behind the EU's revised renewable energy directive. Will the next parliament favour renewable liquid fuels in spite of provisions for an ICE phase-out? For me, the end of the internal combustion engine (ICE) has not been decided yet. The next European Parliament will likely have a majority supporting the continuation of ICE beyond 2035. This would provide planning security for investments in innovation and facilities for e-fuels, biofuels, and other CO2-neutral fuels, including power-to-x (P2X) fuels. Instead of an outright ban on combustion engines, there should be a phase-out of fossil fuels, enabling us to achieve climate targets more quickly and cost-effectively, without overloading power grids. We need to start working on a clear legal framework today. The blending of new fuels must be standardised and regulated. Do you see the EU parliament favouring greater flexibility in the conditions for renewable hydrogen? Yes, we have a review clause in the renewable energy directive, whereby the European Commission shall submit a report to council [of ministers] and parliament by 1 July 2028. If this assessment indicates that we cannot achieve targets for green hydrogen in industry due to a lack of supply, then we must adjust the definition of green hydrogen. If we do not adapt, the industry may relocate to regions with fewer environmental regulations. We need to be flexible in our legislation and ready to adjust rules due to worldwide competition. How can a new EU parliament improve on existing legislation for 2030 climate and energy goals? The magic word is technological openness. We need to get the best out of all energy resources. Additionally, we need to invest significantly more in the energy transition, especially in the expansion of cross-border green electricity projects. The new European Parliament will likely be more pragmatic and realistic in its energy goals. Does the EU need to rethink the 2040 goals? There's no need to rethink the 2040 CO2 reduction target of 90pc [compared with 1990 levels]. But we need to rethink how to achieve goals and keep a close eye on China and India. Europe must constantly redefine and adapt legislation as necessary. One crucial step is reaching new trade arrangements [to balance higher EU climate standards for domestic industry than global competitors]. We have to be more realistic. Do you think EU 2030 targets for hydrogen are too ambitious? Yes, the target for green hydrogen to represent 42pc of hydrogen used by industry in 2030 is too ambitious from today's point of view. And I currently don't see the capacity to produce enough hydrogen in Europe. As for imports, non-EU producers often do not meet the same standards for producing green hydrogen. This means we'll need to adapt our definition of green hydrogen and consider more low-carbon solutions. The Paris Climate Agreement remains our primary goal. If we can achieve these goals with low-carbon hydrogen, why not? Still, it remains possible to meet the 2030 green hydrogen targets if we adapt the definition. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Singapore’s Sembcorp partners Bloom on low-carbon power
Singapore’s Sembcorp partners Bloom on low-carbon power
Singapore, 7 June (Argus) — Singapore energy firm Sembcorp has signed a deal with US-based solid oxide fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy to produce low-carbon electricity. Sembcorp will potentially use Bloom's solid oxide fuel cell technology called Energy Server, together with third-party carbon capture technology, to produce low-carbon power. Solid oxide fuel cells run on fuels like natural gas and biomethane to produce electricity and are considered to be highly efficient . The Energy Server system can potentially deliver green energy in future by using low-carbon feedstock, said the firms. The companies did not provide a timeline for the development of this system. Natural gas is currently used to produce 95pc of Singapore's electricity. The partnership is in line with Singapore's launch of the Green Data Centre Roadmap, under which one of the targets is to develop sustainable data centres with more use of green energy. The low-carbon electricity produced by Sembcorp and Bloom can be used to power these data centres. The Energy Servers can also be used as a parallel grid system for utilities to manage grid constraints, according to the firms. Sembcorp currently has an energy portfolio totalling 21.2GW, which includes 14.4GW of renewable energy capacity, across 10 countries. Singapore aims to import up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035. It has made progress on progress on this in the past few months by signing cross-border power deals with countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia. But the country still needs to invest in submarine cables and upgrade its power grid , an obstacle that the rest of southeast Asia is also facing. Grid capacity development across the region has made slow progress because of institutional barriers and the lack of private-sector investment. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Q&A: LNG, renewables key for Australian gas: Jemena
Q&A: LNG, renewables key for Australian gas: Jemena
Sydney, 5 June (Argus) — Australian gas pipeline and power distribution firm Jemena has been at the forefront of the country's biogas sector through its Malabar facility in Sydney, while continuing to supply natural gas and eyeing hydrogen blending. Argus spoke to managing director David Gillespie on the sidelines of the Financial Review ESG Summit in Sydney about the company's future and how he views Canberra's future gas strategy. Edited highlights follow: Your thoughts on the future gas strategy, which was released with quite a bit of fanfare. What's the substance behind it? It's a piece of work that to me is very science backed. And ultimately the whole system needs to transition. It can't just be a view of one technology doing the heavy lifting. I think it's a strong acknowledgement of the role of gas that's going to be here, for not just firming of renewable energy in the future, but also those hard to abate industrial sectors. Ultimately over the long run I think gas itself is a fuel that's going to have a decarbonisation journey of its own. So it really promotes a conversation around getting down the path of a whole of system reduction of the energy sector's carbon footprint. Regarding biogas, are you seeing any kind of levers in the works to encourage production? Definitely there are green shoots. We've had the Malabar facility certified from a green power perspective and that's a great step. We're having really good engagement with government around inclusion of any purchases of that biomethane in the national greenhouse gas reporting, so if you buy certified biomethane you'll get the benefit for that in terms of emissions intensity of your business. We hope that's achieved within the next 12 months. Ultimately a strong market signal to drive investment will be a renewable gas target that will see us with very clear investment signals around the role that will play in terms of its future mix and scale, first and foremost for the industrial load that is hard to abate. Do you have an idea about what that target might look like and what sort of percentage? I don't. What I would say is if you take just the Sydney basin, two-thirds of the gas that's flowing through it is for industrial use, roughly 60 PJ/yr (1.6bn m³/yr) of gas. If you can decarbonise half of that through economically rational projects, proximate to the network, then you're on a pathway to making big inroads in the country's most populous state. We're looking at projects that are more scaled than the [2.5mn m³/yr] Malabar facility, more in the 1-2PJ range. So if you can encourage renewable gas further with targets, I think you'll really start to see some momentum. Where's the 200 TJ/d (5.34mn m³/d) Eastern Gas Pipeline (EGP) reversal project at? The [12km] pipeline to connect the [2.4mn t/yr] Port Kembla LNG terminal to the EGP was completed in December and the terminal construction will be complete by the first quarter of 2025, ahead of commercial operations from winter 2026. So the reversal activities we are completing will be lined up to be delivered by 1Q 2026. I don't think there's any new gas supply outside of LNG terminals that has a clear pathway to market in terms of approvals and timeframes. We're absolutely supportive of encouraging new supply but ultimately the most near-term solution is LNG terminals. Port Kembla's injection capacity is just over 500 TJ/d, about 40pc of the Victorian load today. So you're still going to, I think, need more supply over the long run as well. But this is going to be the first realistic option in the market. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Explore our natural gas products
Key price assessments
Argus prices are recognised by the market as trusted and reliable indicators of the real market value. Explore some of our most widely used and relevant price assessments.