Vitol Builds Refinery for New Ship's Fuel
Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, has started building a small oil refinery at its storage terminal in Malaysia that will provide low-sulfur fuel for ships, a senior company official said on Monday.The project consists of a crude distillation unit that can process 30,000 barrels per day of crude and is located on the same site as Vitol's oil storage terminal at Tanjung Bin in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, Vitol Asia's President and Chief Executive Officer Kho Hui Meng…
Anadarko Approves $20 Bln Mozambique LNG Project
U.S. energy firm Anadarko Petroleum Corp gave the go-ahead on Tuesday for the construction of a $20 billion gas liquefaction and export terminal in Mozambique, the largest single LNG project approved in Africa, according to the government of Mozambique and energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.The announcement, which occurred at an event in Mozambique, was widely expected after Anadarko last month flagged the decision date. Officials at Anadarko were not immediately available for comment.The project…
Offshore Wind – A Brief History
Happy 80th birthday Maritime Reporter & Engineering News! Eighty years is a significant publishing and business accomplishment!Birthdays always cause a look back. An 80-year review starts in 1939, the close of one very challenging decade, the start of events still reverberating today. History’s most important history is contained in the last 80 years.Energy dominated every one of those decades. Consider energy use, say, starting after World War II, from 1950 to 1975. There was power for everything…
Russian Pipeline: Bringing Gas and Building Trust
A discussion over energy at the summit last week between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has excited the government in South Korea, where the government is desperately looking to entice the North Koreans to come in out of the cold.Among the topics that came up was access for the North Koreans to Russian electricity supplies and the question of North Korea allowing the Russians to build a pipeline that would ship natural gas from Vladivostok, where the summit was held…
Aker Energy Extends FPSO Dhirubhai-1 Charter
The oil and gas company Aker Energy AS, a 50-50 joint venture between Aker ASA and TRG AS, has paid to extend an option it has for the long-term charter of Ocean Yield’s FPSO Dhirubhai-1.A press release said that on the 12th of February 2019 Ocean Yield ASA entered into an option agreement with Aker Energy AS for a long-term bareboat charter of the FPSO Dhirubhai-1.The initial option period expires on 1st of May 2019 with an extension period of up to 30 days against an additional compensation…
A New York State of Mind
“A new industry is being established in New York, with the primary stimulus being a state-driven procurement process.”New York State Public Service Commission (PSC), July 12, 2018.To a great extent, this PSC comment provides direct insight into the dynamics behind New York’s pace-setting moves to establish offshore wind. First, this new energy development is deliberate – not left to chance or laissez faire markets. Second, state officials are in control, from choosing a contractor to securing money for payment.
AMS Wins Hornsea Two Gig
AMS Trenchless Specialists, North Lincolnshire-based engineering company, has won a huge contract for part of the onshore cable works for Hornsea Two, an offshore wind farm being constructed 89km off the Yorkshire Coast.AMS Trenchless Specialists, based in Scunthorpe, will undertake Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), a method of installing ducting and cables beneath existing infrastructure without disruption, at the landfall site in Horseshoe Point where the offshore cables meet the onshore cables.This contract builds on the existing relationship between the East-coast firm and Ørsted…
Saudi Aramco, McDermott Plan New Facility
Saudi Aramco on Tuesday signed a land lease agreement with McDermott Arabia Company to establish a facility for large scale fabrication of offshore platforms and onshore/offshore modules located within the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia.“This facility will serve as a major engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) hub for not only the Kingdom, but for the [Gulf Cooperation Council] region,” said Ahmad Al Sa'adi, Saudi…
Orsted Seeks Ways to Avoid Brexit Tariffs
Denmark's Orsted is looking at ways to avoid potential tariffs on imports of components for its multi-billion pound British offshore wind farms in the event of a disorderly Brexit, the company's UK chief told Reuters.With only 16 days before Britain is due to leave the European Union, there is still no ratified divorce deal, leading business to fear a "no-deal" exit that could see World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariffs applied to some goods.Analysts at Wood Mackenzie say around two-thirds of…
India's Ennore Terminal Gets Qatari LNG
Qatargas, the world’s largest LNG producer, supplied a commissioning cargo for India’s Ennore LNG receiving terminal, near the southern Indian city of Chennai.The commissioning LNG cargo was delivered onboard the vessel ‘Golar Snow’ on 25th February 2019 by the Swiss commodity trader, Gunvor, to the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), which owns and operates the five million tonnes per annum (MTPA) terminal. Qatargas sold the cargo Free On Board (FOB) basis to Gunvor.Ennore will be India’s fifth operational LNG terminal and the first LNG terminal on the East Coast of India.
U.S. Crude Stockpiles Fall Unexpectedly -EIA
U.S. crude oil stocks fell unexpectedly last week as net imports fell to record lows, despite production growing to all-time highs and abundant inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.After five consecutive weekly builds, nationwide crude inventories fell 8.6 million barrels in the week to Feb. 22, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 2.8 million barrels.However, crude stocks at Cushing, the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures rose 1.6 million barrels to 46.7 million barrels…
High-tech Buoy Launched in New York Bight
A high-tech, specialized buoy has been launched to collect useful information for developing wind farms offshore the U.S. East Coast.Equinor Wind US said it deployed the cutting-edge buoy as it works to develop its offshore wind lease site in the New York Bight.The Floating LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) device will measure wind speed, wind direction, wave conditions and several other marine characteristics that help inform critical decisions in regard to the resource potential and eventual development of the wind farm.
Anadarko, CNOOC Ink Mozambique LNG Deal
Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Friday a long-term agreement had been signed with the trading division of China's state-owned offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Mozambique.The deal will bring it one step closer to making a final investment decision for its East African LNG project, with the decision expected in the first half of this year.Mozambique LNG1 Company, the jointly-owned sales entity of the Mozambique Area 1 co-venturers, had signed a sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with CNOOC's gas and power Singapore Trading and Marketing unit, Anadarko said.The SPA i
Norden Gets Sembcorp Contract
Danish shipping company Dampskibsselskabet Norden has signed a ten-year Panamax contract of affreightment (COA) with Indian utility firm Sembcorp Energy India.Commencing April 1, Norden will carry out the transportation of steam coal in panamaxes totalling 12 million tonnes over the ten-year period from Indonesia and South Africa to the port of Krishnapatnam in East Coast India.The voyages will be carried out on both Norden owned and chartered vessels.Norden pointed out in a press release that demand for energy in India is on the rise in line with the country’s economic expansion.
US Natural Gas Demand Nears Record High
U.S. homes and businesses will likely use record amounts of natural gas for heating on Wednesday as an Arctic-like freeze blankets the eastern half of the country, according to energy analysts.Harsh winds brought record-low temperatures across much of the Midwest, unnerving even residents accustomed to brutal winters and keeping them huddled indoors as offices closed and mail carriers halted their rounds.That brutal cold could also temporarily reduce gas production by causing freeze-offs in the Marcellus and Utica shale…
EnBW Open to Partnerships in U.S. Offshore Wind Expansion
German utility EnBW could seek more partners in its planned push into the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind sector, its chief executive said.EnBW has already formed a joint venture with project developer Trident Winds to cater the U.S. west coast but is so far working alone on the booming east coast, where it has set up a subsidiary in the fourth quarter."We're open to partnerships also in the offshore business," Frank Mastiaux told Reuters at the annual Handelsblatt energy conference in Berlin."At the moment…
CNOOC Storing LNG Offshore
China's state-owned CNOOC is temporarily storing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a tanker off South Korea as a warmer than usual winter cuts expected spot demand for the fuel, industry sources said on Wednesday.China faced a severe winter gas shortage last year after switching millions of households to natural gas from coal for heating, prompting Chinese companies this winter to secure supply well ahead of time, they said.However, the winter so far has been relatively mild and weather data from Refinitiv Eikon largely points towards warmer than usual temperatures ahead…
Bosch Rexroth Expands on US West Coast
Drive and control technology company Bosch Rexroth announced the next phase of its growing U.S. west coast presence through the re-opening of its Pleasanton, Calif. facility.First established in the late ’90s, what formerly served as a small sales office is now a much larger mixed-use facility that contains offices, engineering, training rooms and conference areas, as well as a new warehouse and prototype shop that will be used to develop, build and test proof-of-concept solutions with customers.With an already well-established engineering force on the east coast…
SurfWEC to Tap Ocean Wave Power
New Jersey based marine engineering firm Martin & Ottaway together with industry partners, has formed a new company, SurfWEC LLC, that will develop Wave Energy Converters (WECs) using patented features that are expected to increase energy recovery rates by an order of magnitude over legacy WEC systems.The marine consultancy firm said in a press release that SurfWEC has broken through the barriers holding back wave energy recovery technologies from successfully and economically harnessing power…
Offshore Wind Ready To Take Off in US
Up and down the East Coast, initiatives to develop a massive and largely untapped market can make sea change in American offshore wind, says the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).IEEFA pointed out that the big lease sales ($405 million) last month in coastal waters off Massachusetts for three federally owned tracts that didn’t sell at an auction in 2015 signal a sea change in how U.S. offshore wind generation potential is now perceived.The winners of that auction, who emerged after 32 rounds of bidding over two days, have global energy-industry pedigrees that bring market-making heft.
