Petrobras ramps up gas imports amid drought
Brazil's oil and gas regulator (ANP) today authorized higher imports of natural gas to generate more gas-fired electricity as drought saps hydropower output.
ANP authorized state-controlled Petrobras to import 31mn m³ a year of LNG while thermal power generation company Ambar Energia was authorized to import 2.3mn m³/d of natural gas from Bolivia.
Petrobras got the green light to import LNG from any country through January 2023, to be delivered at the Rio de Janeiro state port of Baía de Guanabara, the Ceara state port of Pecem, and the Bahia state port of Baia de Todos os Santos, where the state-controlled company has regasification facilities.
The authorizations are among measures the Brazilian government has announced since April to try to boost thermal power generation as the largely hydropower-dependant country faces its worst drought in its 91-years of record keeping.
The imports of LNG authorized for Petrobras are the equivalent of 51mn m³/d of natural gas, about 40pc of the country's daily natural gas output.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy also ordered that all maintenance on thermal power facilities be cancelled to avoid restrictions on power generation. The Electric Sector Operator (ONS) lists in its daily report around 4,000MW of natural gas and LNG thermal power capacity that is currently unavailable because of maintenance, restrictions in operations for unreported reasons, retrofitting or suspended commercialization.
The ministry also promised to move forward the dispatch of natural gas to thermal power plants. In December, the entity estimated that 4,010MW of thermal power capacity, comprised of mainly gas, was expected to start operation by 2021 and 2022. Brazil's natural gas production in April averaged 123.9mn m³/d, while imports from its main supplier Bolivia in February averaged 20.2 mn m³/day.
President Jair Bolsonaro's office has created a special group formed by ministries and regulatory entities focused on water and energy use planning. The first meeting of the group occurred yesterday, with discussions to avoid rationing water and electricity this year. An action plan will be presented within 15 days, aiming to help maintain water levels at the main reservoirs.
Planned maintenance at Petrobras' pre-salt Mexilhao field and its Rota 1 pipeline, expected in August, would reduce the gas supply for thermal power plants, which prompted the government to discuss measures that can be adopted to avoid shortages to gas power plants. The Rota 1 pipeline has a gas transport capacity of 10mn m3/d. Measures regarding the pipeline and Mexilhao were not disclosed by the ministry.
The ministry said a recently enacted new gas law will help the country cope with hydropower generation restrictions, and help stimulate more gas supply for the country. "There will be more actors that will compete to meet eventual gas demand from the thermoelectric segment," the ministry said in an email.
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Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
New York, 25 September (Argus) — Hurricane Helene, which is forecast to intensify as it heads for a late Thursday landfall in Florida, has shut in about 29pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 511,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 313mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 17pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from 17 offshore platforms. Helene was last about 110 miles north-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Helene is expected to be a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, when it reaches the eastern Florida coast on Thursday evening. "A turn toward the north and north-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today through Thursday, bringing the center of Helene across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and to the Florida Big Bend coast by Thursday evening," the center said. Shell restarting some production Although the hurricane will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies have taken precautionary measures. Given a shift in the forecast track, Shell said late Tuesday that it had started to ramp up production at the Appomattox platform to normal levels, and was in the process of restoring output at the Stones facility, both off the coast of Louisiana. It paused some drilling operations. Chevron said earlier it was shutting in production at company-operated facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, and evacuating all workers. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform. BP had earlier this week started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine made landfall, with up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
London, 25 September (Argus) — There will be an oversupply of LNG on the global market in the coming years, which may contribute further to "the decade of turmoil", Danish utility Orsted senior vice-president Rune Sonne Bundgaard-Jorgensen told Argus . "The [energy] crisis is absolutely not over. To me, an energy crisis is one of uncertainty and volatility," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said on the sidelines of the Energy Trading Week conference in London. "We are going to see an LNG glut which we all in this [conference] room see is coming but the rest of the world does not necessarily. That is going to catch a lot of people by surprise," he said, adding that "surprises are never good when it comes to energy". According to Bundgaard-Jorgensen, "we are going to see an ongoing decade of turmoil. Who knows where the war in the Middle East with the latest attacks on Hezbollah and Israel is going to take us," he said. Among other concerns, he mentioned "uncertainties in the Far East, around the South China Sea". "So, though the current energy crisis of decoupling from Russian pipe gas is over, the continued crisis of where we are going to get sustainable, long-term energy from is far from over," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said. Commenting on Orsted's long-term gas plans, Bundgaard-Jorgensen stressed that Orsted is "constantly evaluating" its gas portfolio. He refused to say whether Orsted is negotiating another long-term deal with Norwegian state-controlled Equinor after their previous contract expired in April. Orsted entered an agreement with Equinor at the end of 2022, after Russian state-controlled Gazprom halted deliveries to the firm from June 2022 following Orsted's refusal to pay for its supply in roubles . "We are quite happy that we are out of our long-term contract with Gazprom," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said. "As a company we believe in decarbonisation — but I also need to believe in a resilient portfolio. So, we are constantly looking to optimise. Gas is not a strategic core of Orsted but it is a very important tool of securing our portfolio," he said. Bundgaard-Jorgensen refused to comment on whether the firm is planning to appeal a decision made by the Danish Supply Authority in July that the tariff levied by Orsted on the Tyra-Nybro pipeline to Denmark from 2011 to October 2012 was too high. The authority reduced the tariff in the period by almost 30pc to 7.20 Danish kroner/m³ from DKr10/m³. By Alexandra Vladimirova Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update 2
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update 2
Adds daily spot market crude pricing information. New York, 24 September (Argus) — Tropical storm Helene, which is expected to develop into a hurricane on Wednesday before coming ashore in Florida Thursday, has shut in about 16pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 284,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 208mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 11pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from four offshore production platforms. Helene was last about 175 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The current forecast has the center of Helene entering the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning and moving north-northeast toward a possible landfall near the Florida panhandle region late Thursday. By then it will have strengthened into a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, according to forecasts. While the storm will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies started suspended some operations on Sunday. Chevron began evacuating workers and shutting in its Blind Faith and Petronius platforms. "While we are also transporting nonessential personnel from our four other Chevron-operated Gulf of Mexico platforms, production there remains at normal levels," the company said. Shell said Monday it had shut in output from its Stones facility and curtailed production from the Appomattox platform, both off the coast of Louisiana. The company was also relocating non-essential workers from its assets in the Mars corridor, and suspending some drilling operations. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform as a precaution. BP had started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. Offshore spot prices rise slightly The Na Kika platform is connected by pipeline to the Shell-operated Delta pipeline system, which carries Heavy Louisiana Sweet (HLS) crude to shore. During trading on Tuesday, October HLS rose by 20¢/bl relative to the light sweet crude benchmark in Cushing, Oklahoma, to an 80¢/bl discount. The October US pipeline trade month ends Wednesday. The Thunder Horse platform production is marketed as part of a sour crude stream by the same name that is priced at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Pipeline's (LOOP) facility in Clovelly, Louisiana, where it has dedicated underground cavern storage, as does Mars. On Tuesday, Thunder Horse traded at a 50¢/bl discount to the Cushing benchmark, after wide discussion circled a 40¢/bl discount in the prior session. Medium sour secondary benchmark Mars tightened its gap to the Cushing basis by 30¢/bl to a volume-weighted average discount of roughly $1.55/bl. Crude production from the 140,000 b/d capacity Argos platform feeds into the Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System (CHOPS), which carries Southern Green Canyon (SGC) crude to the Texas Gulf coast. Argos platform serves the Mad Dog 2 field development that came online last year. Atlantis production also feeds into SGC. No SGC transactions were reported on Tuesday. It was offered as low as $1/bl under the Cushing benchmark, lower than trade at a 50¢/bl discount in the prior session. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine made landfall as a category 1 storm. Up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Leaders call for fast-tracking renewable projects
Leaders call for fast-tracking renewable projects
New York, 24 September (Argus) — Countries need to fast track permitting processes for renewable projects and build more transmission infrastructure to meet the goal of tripling global renewable capacity by 2030, leaders said at the Global Renewables summit today. At the UN's Cop 28 climate summit in Dubai last year, countries agreed to take action to triple global renewable energy capacity from 2022 levels by 2030 and to double energy efficiency. Almost a year later, there are major barriers that are impeding investment needed to boost a faster expansion of renewables. "We must double down on implementation," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said at the event in New York, New York. Permitting has become a major barrier for developers to build their renewable and transmissions projects within the timeframes originally set, leading to delays and rising costs. This is turn creates uncertainty for investors interested in providing funds for the development of projects and expecting returns, speakers said. Countries' nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reduce greenhouse emissions not only need to show their renewable capacity targets but also their electricity grid goals that allow the flow of renewable electricity and accelerate the growth of renewable capacity, Cop 28's president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said. Sorting out these bottlenecks with the proper regulations and policies will create certainty for investors and attract more project financing, leaders agreed. This year's Cop 29 will focus on speeding the delivery of goals set at Cop 28 as well as expanding and adding new solutions for the integration of renewables. Cop 29 president-designate from Azerbaijan Mukhtar Babayev said that they hope countries back a pledge to increase global energy storage capacity to 1.5GW by 2030 and to add or refurbish more than 80mn km (49mn miles) of electricity grids by 2040. By Jacqueline Echevarria Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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