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AD Ports Group pioneers LNG bunkering at Khalifa Port

  • Market: Natural gas
  • 17/04/25

Abu Dhabi's AD Ports Group has conducted its first ship-to-ship (STS) LNG bunkering operation at Khalifa Port.

The operation, executed with marine fuels provider Monjasa, involved the container vessel MSC Thais, berthed at Abu Dhabi Terminals, receiving LNG from the dedicated bunker vessel Green Zeebrugge during a simultaneous cargo transfer.

"By ensuring reliable access to low-carbon fuels like LNG, we are enabling shipowners to meet their sustainability goals while aligning with global environmental objectives," said Abu Dhabi Maritime chief executive Saif Al Mheiri.

LNG offers lower greenhouse gas emissions, sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter than conventional marine fuels.

AD Ports Group and Monjasa plan to expand LNG bunkering services across Abu Dhabi's commercial ports, including Zayed Port's cruise liners.

Monjasa facilitated the first delivery of LNG bunker fuel in Dubai earlier this year. The firm brought the 5,100m³ Green Zeebrugge in 2024 from northwest Europe to be stationed in the UAE.


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14/05/25

Mauritania weaves GTA project into industrial strategy

Mauritania weaves GTA project into industrial strategy

Paris, 14 May (Argus) — Offshore gas production could help to meet Mauritania's power demand by 2030 while also supporting mining activity, particularly of iron ore, energy minister Mohammed Ould Khaled told the Invest in African Energy forum today. BP last month loaded the first LNG shipment from its 2.7mn t/yr Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) joint venture in Mauritanian and Senegalese waters. GTA is export-oriented, but Mauritania could still tap the project for power, Khaled said, although he added that infrastructure would need to be built to facilitate this. A tender to build a power plant fired by GTA gas will be launched in the next couple of weeks, he said. Mauritania wants to become a regional power hub within 20 years, Khaled said, and hopes to see construction of a power link "to the north" — in the direction of Western Sahara/Morocco. The Mauritanian power grid is already connected to Senegal and Mali, he said. Future power generation projects will be funded by the private sector and incentivised through tax breaks, Khaled said, with 550MW set to become available to the domestic market through private-sector projects over the next couple of years. Mauritania is also looking for partners to develop the 50 trillion-60 trillion ft³ Bir Allah gas field for export and domestic markets. The area lies 50km north of GTA and exclusively in Mauritanian waters, according to Khaled, with two wells already having been sunk. Bir Allah is "three times bigger than GTA", he said. BP and Kosmos Energy signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement for the site in late 2022 , with BP saying gas from the field will be used to expand GTA to 10mn t/yr. It is unclear whether BP or Kosmos Energy are still partners in the Bir Allah development project. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Aramco eyes stake in Australia's Louisiana LNG project


14/05/25
News
14/05/25

Aramco eyes stake in Australia's Louisiana LNG project

Sydney, 14 May (Argus) — Australian independent Woodside and Saudi state-owned oil firm Aramco have entered into an agreement for Aramco to possibly buy a stake in Woodside's 16.5mn t/yr Louisiana LNG project and to explore other opportunities, including lower-carbon ammonia. As part of the non-binding agreement, Aramco could buy an equity interest in and LNG offtake from its Louisiana LNG project, Woodside said without disclosing further details. This comes after Woodside reached a final investment decision on the project in late April. Woodside and Aramco signed the agreement in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia at the Saudi-US investment forum , which was attended by Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and US president Donald Trump. The collaboration shows Woodside's Louisiana project is generating interest among "high-quality potential investors," Woodside's CEO Meg O'Neill said, after selling 40pc of the project's infrastructure to US-based investment firm Stonepeak in early April. The agreement will also help the firm build a more diverse portfolio, as it branches into chemical production, O'Neill said. The firm's wholly-owned Beaumont New Ammonia project in Texas is expected to produce first ammonia in the second half of this year, and lower-carbon ammonia by the second half of next year. By Grace Dudley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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NRG to buy gas power plants in $12bn deal


13/05/25
News
13/05/25

NRG to buy gas power plants in $12bn deal

New York, 13 May (Argus) — NRG Energy will purchase 18 natural gas-fired power plants in the northeastern US and Texas in a $12bn deal aimed at meeting growing US power demand from data centers and expanding electric vehicle fleets. The acquisition from LS Power will double NRG's power generation capacity to 25 GW as plans for data centers running artificial intelligence (AI) software are driving expected US power demand growth, which has languished for more than a decade. "We are in the early stages of a power demand supercycle," said NRG chief executive Larry Coben. About 61pc of the 12.9 GW of generation capacity being acquired is located in the mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM Interconnection area, 16pc is in New York's NYISO power grid, 7pc in New England's ISO-NE, and 16pc in Texas' ERCOT grid. The deal includes $6.4bn in cash, $2.8bn in stock and $3.2bn of assumed debt. PJM in January revised its power demand forecast substantially upward on projected load growth from planned data centers. Constellation Energy in January agreed to buy the largest US gas-fired power generator Calpine Energy for $16.4bn in stock and cash, citing the need to rapidly enter the fast-growing Texas power market. The companies expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2026. By Julian Hast Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Ukrainian gas imports double in May


12/05/25
News
12/05/25

Ukrainian gas imports double in May

London, 12 May (Argus) — Ukraine's gas imports have nearly doubled in the first 10 days of May from April, although still only the Polish and Hungarian routes are being used. Ukraine's net imports — after netting off inflows and outflows to and from Moldova — averaged 140 GWh/d on 1-10 May, nearly double the 73 GWh/d average in April, the latest available data from transmission system operators show. The increase has been driven by flows from Hungary at VIP Bereg rising to near full capacity of 103 GWh/d from 60 GWh/d, and a smaller 12 GWh/d increase from Poland ( see flows graph ). Net flows to Moldova also fell to 13 GWh/d from 23 GWh/d, leaving more gas in Ukraine. But imports would need to ramp up significantly to match the 4.6bn m³ that state-owned incumbent Naftogaz estimated would be needed over the entire summer. If Ukrainian net imports remain at 140 GWh/d until 15 October, around the typical start of the heating season, then cumulative net imports would reach around 22TWh, or around 2.1bn m³ using Ukraine's standard 10.5 kWh/m³ conversion rate. VIP Bereg is already flowing at near maximum capacity, as is the interconnection point with Poland, meaning that any additional flows will need to arrive from Slovakia at Budince or from Romania at Isaccea, both particularly expensive transit routes. Demand for third-quarter capacity along the Bereg route continues to outstrip available capacity, with the auction now in its sixth day and still not concluded. So far, Naftogaz has announced few public supply deals, although it has contracted 300mn m³ of LNG from Poland's Orlen , with some market participants saying Orlen would supply as much as 1bn m³. The firm has €410mn in funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development , which it hopes will finance the purchase of around 1bn m³. But it is unclear where funding for additional purchases will come from, and the government does not intend to increase household or business tariffs to cover Naftogaz's higher costs. Even if Ukraine imports as much as Naftogaz said it will need, the country could still face shortages in the winter . Ukraine started the injection season in mid-April at the lowest stock level in at least a decade , and while Naftogaz managed to restore more than half of the output it lost in February following attacks on its production infrastructure, Ukrainian production still remains well below pre-2022 levels. Hungary maintains pivotal hub role Hungary has become an increasingly important transit hub over the past year, and Ukraine's import needs have increased its prominence further. With VIP Bereg at a 99pc utilisation rate this month and continued exports northward to Slovakia, Hungary has been pulling in more gas from other sources to maintain these flows. Inflows from Serbia at Horgos, where Russian gas arrives into Hungary through Turkish Stream, rose to 244 GWh/d on 1-10 May from 223 GWh/d in April, just below the point's technical capacity of 246 GWh/d. And inflows from Austria have also increased considerably, rising to 139 GWh/d from 92 GWh/d, while receipts from Romania more than doubled to 40 GWh/d from 19 GWh/d ( see Hungarian flows graph ). Hungarian prompt prices have risen to a premium over Austria and Romania in order to attract more gas ( see prices graph ). Slovakia remains at a premium to Hungary, though, driven by the need to incentivise flows from Hungary now that Russian transit through Ukraine has ceased. Hungarian transmission tariffs remain significantly cheaper than in Slovakia or Romania, so demand for Hungarian capacity at quarterly auctions last week held strong . The bookings suggest that the recent flow configuration is set to continue in the second half of summer, with all import capacity from Serbia booked and most available capacity from Austria. The export route from Romania to Ukraine remains unpopular, not just because of the high transmission tariffs paid in Romania and Moldova, but also because of the conditional nature of the flows. An equal amount of gas must be brought into Romania at Negru Voda 1 as is exported at Isaccea 1, as they are part of the same Trans-Balkan Pipeline string. Additionally, anyone hoping to bring gas from Greece or Bulgaria up to Ukraine must secure capacity in as many as 10 or more auctions, which take place simultaneously given that the transit route crosses in and out of Moldova several times. Even one failed auction could make exports along this route impossible. By Brendan A'Hearn Hungarian DA vs nearby markets €/MWh Ukrainian net flows by point GWh Hungarian net flows by point GWh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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US shale M&A faces headwinds on oil price rout


12/05/25
News
12/05/25

US shale M&A faces headwinds on oil price rout

New York, 12 May (Argus) — Dealmaking in the US shale patch, which had been on a roller-coaster ride in the past few years, is at risk of grinding to a halt as a result of an oil price slump. Just as a growing number of producers are unveiling plans to cut spending and slow activity as crude prices teeter around levels needed to profitably drill wells, prospects for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the shale patch are also souring. That marks a departure from the start of 2025 , when dealmakers were expecting a bumper year with recent acquirers looking to offload non-core assets and private equity gearing up to make a return after raising new funds. April brought five deals with a combined value of $2.3bn, bringing the year-to-date total for M&A activity in the US upstream space to $19.2bn, consultancy Enverus says. That was down by 60pc from a year earlier, when the latest round of consolidation was in full sway. "We're just hearing over and over again, across the board, that companies are overwhelmingly sitting on their hands," law firm Sidley partner Stephen Boone says. Recent deals include natural gas giant EQT buying the upstream and midstream assets of privately held Olympus Energy for $1.8bn . Gas is increasingly likely to dominate dealmaking going forward, as not only has the commodity fared better than oil on a relative basis, but investors are likely to be drawn by the US LNG boom and rapid growth of gas-fired power generation demand to meet the energy needs of data centres required for artificial intelligence . "The trouble is, there aren't enough potential gas deals to make up for a drop in oil asset activity, which we do anticipate is going to fall off a cliff," Enverus principal analyst Andrew Dittmar says. Aside from the trade tariff-induced market volatility that has sent crude prices tumbling to four-year lows, a lack of high-quality targets on the oil side also suggests deals will be few and far between this year. Most publicly-held operators will be focused on protecting their bottom line as they remain focused on shareholder returns rather than growth, and might well be reluctant to take on debt to fund deals. And private equity may prefer to bide its time. "That group is likely looking for some sign of a bottom on crude before jumping in, rather than trying to catch a falling knife of asset values," Dittmar says. That is not to say that deals have completely dried up, with Permian Resources agreeing this week to snap up assets in the New Mexico part of the top US shale play from APA for $608mn. But Diamondback Energy, a top Permian producer which has played an active role in the most recent round of M&A, might sum up the view of many with its plan to remain on the sidelines for the time being. Too much noise "We're in the period right now where there's so much noise and volatility that not a lot gets done," Diamondback's president, Kaes Van't Hof, says. "Anything that we would look at would have to be extremely cheap, and I just don't think we're there yet today." Even if some relief comes on the tariff front and the economy avoids a recession, it will take time for deals to pick up again, and that could push a resurgence in dealmaking well into 2026. The fact that public operators have spent the years since the pandemic on repairing balance sheets and focusing on investor payouts might also count against any uptick in transactions anytime soon. "That's actually going to keep M&A down, because now that we see the downturn, we have significantly less distressed companies out there that will be forced to sell, and we have more and more companies that think they are better situated to just ride it out," Sidley's Boone says. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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