LNG related Updates

[ghazi52]

Project comes on line with start of second LNG terminal

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inspects Pakistan GasPort floating storage regasification unit in Karachi on Monday.

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated on Monday the second liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Port Qasim, which was built by Pakistan GasPort Limited with an investment of $500 million to pump gas into three LNG-based power plants in energy-starved Punjab.

He emphasised that electricity shortages had been largely overcome with the import of LNG – the cheapest energy source at present, adding the government was currently working on several power projects.

Pakistan is importing 600 million cubic feet of LNG per day (mmcfd) through its first terminal at Port Qasim which has been operating at 100% capacity over the past two years.

The second terminal will handle another 600 mmcfd, taking total imports to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd).

The premier congratulated Pakistan GasPort Chairman Iqbal Z Ahmed on achieving the milestone and said he still had two more to cross.

Terming the LNG terminal a success story, he said the government’s work was not to engage in business, instead it would facilitate the private sector in setting up all new terminals and provide a regulatory framework. He saw a huge potential for investment in the LNG sector because the country had a big market for natural gas.

Abbasi revealed that 1 bcfd of LNG would be required to meet the needs of industries, compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations, captive power plants of industrial units and power producers.

He pointed out that Pakistan had now become a fertiliser exporter due to gas imports and LNG was the cheapest source of energy at present despite media criticism.

Pakistan is expected to be importing 30 million tons of LNG per year in the next three years as more terminals are coming up. Speaking on the occasion, Ahmed said Pakistan GasPort had completed the terminal despite encountering several challenges.

The company has planned to set up another LNG terminal with a joint investment of $500 million which is expected to start running before the end of next year.

He revealed that they had also planned to set up a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import terminal with an investment of $50 million to meet consumer demand.

There had been ups and downs in LPG prices and the establishment of the terminal would help stablise gas rates in the country, he said, while pointing out that the government was also working on setting up LPG air-mix plants.

“The LPG terminal will also help to meet gas demand in remote areas of the country,” he said.

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan in LNG talks with France, Italy and Spain

By Drazen Jorgic

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is in talks to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from France, Italy and Spain, a senior Pakistani source said, raising the prospect of new contracts for Engie, Eni and Gas Natural Fenosa.


Pakistan has been seeking intergovernment agreements (IGAs) across the world to bolster its LNG imports and tackle its chronic energy shortages.

It opened its second LNG import terminal in Karachi last week and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said up to five more terminals were in the works.

Islamabad aims to source about 3 million tonnes of LNG per year for the new terminal through IGAs, or about four cargoes per month, a senior Pakistani energy official told Reuters.

Abbasi said he expected Pakistan’s demand to grow to 30 million tonnes in three years from 4.5 million tonnes currently, an expansion that would make it a major LNG buyer.

It is already one of the fastest-growing LNG markets, attracting interest from producers such as Shell and ExxonMobil and from traders such as Trafigura and Gunvor.


Pakistan last year agreed a deal for Qatar to supply 3.75 million tonnes per year for its first LNG terminal and this year in an open tender it awarded Eni a 15-year supply contract.

But progress on further European contracts has been slower than expected as governments look to ensure deals do not violate European Union regulations, some officials said.

“The Europeans were first to begin discussions but they were delayed because of their regulations,” the Pakistani official said.

He said that once intergovernment deals are signed with France, Italy and Spain, Engie, Eni and Gas Natural Fenosa could begin commercial negotiations with state-owned Pakistan LNG.

A second senior government official confirmed Pakistan was in discussions with Italy.

Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi said on Thursday it was too early to comment on whether a second LNG supply deal with Pakistan would happen.

“Pakistan is asking for gas. We move around and sell our LNG, especially what we produce in Indonesia... If another agreement arrives I will be absolutely delighted to sign it,” Descalzi told Reuters.

Eni is also in discussion with at least one consortium looking to build an LNG terminal in Pakistan, two other sources familiar with the discussions said.

The three European governments declined to comment, as did Engie and Gas Natural Fenosa.

COMPETITION AND PRICE

Russia, Malaysia, Turkey and Azerbaijan have all signed IGAs with Pakistan and their companies have begun commercial negotiations. Pakistan expects to sign deals with Indonesia and Oman soon.

The Pakistani official said Islamabad wants to act fast and is in advanced negotiations with Malaysia’s Petronas, Russia’s Gazprom, Turkey’s Botas and Oman Trading International.


“Price will be the deciding factor, coupled with reliability and certainty of delivery,” he said.

Eni’s 15-year supply contract was priced below 12 percent of a barrel of Brent crude oil, while Gunvor won a 5-year contract at 11.62 percent.

Eni had initially offered a price of 12.29 percent but agreed to lower this to 11.62 percent for the first two years, 11.95 percent for the next two years and 12.14 percent for the remainder of the term, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Islamabad wants to secure more 15-year contracts with terms renegotiable after 10 years, akin to the Eni deal, the Pakistani official said. (Additional reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic in London, Stephen Jewkes in Milan, Steve Scherer in Rome, Foo Yun Chee in Brussels, Bate Felix in Paris and Jose Elias Rodriguez in MadridEditing by Jason Neely, Greg Mahlich)

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Pakistan should focus more on Nuclear energy and Transmission lines from Iran for Baluchistan / Karachi-Gawadar coastal areas

Reducing oil dependency and then , getting hooked on to new drug (LNG) drug is not a long true cure.

LNG should be used for absolute immediate need

 

[Bashido]

Swiss trading company Gunvor and Spanish LNG operator Gas Natural Fenosa submitted the lowest bids in a tender to supply Pakistan with four liquefied natural gas cargoes in January.

State-run Pakistan LNG launched the tender in September with four delivery windows across January.

The cargoes will be delivered to BW Group’s FSRU BW Integrity that will serve as Pakistan’s second LNG terminal at Port Qasim. The vessel is employed by PGP consortium, a subsidiary of Pakistan GasPort consortium.

However, the LNG terminal project has been delayed for months as the connecting pipeline has still not been completed.

According to the marine data provider, VesselsValue, FSRU BW Integrity is currently moored offshore Port Qasim.

As per the tender for January supply, six companies took part, including Gunvor, Vitol, Gas Natural Fenosa, Trafigura and B.B. Energy. DufEnergy also placed a bid but was “technically disqualified”, Pakistan LNG’s evaluation report dated October 24 shows.

Gas Natural Fenosa submitted the most competitive bid for the January 11-12 delivery window at 16.25 percent of Brent. The Spanish company also had the best bid for the January 26-27 window at 16.125 percent of Brent, according to the document.

For January 16-17 and January 21-22 delivery windows, Gunvor placed the best bids at 16.4844 percent and 16.8931 percent of Brent, respectively.


This is old news and currently spot purchase is expensive. @ghazi52 can you update with long term purchase rate with Qatar and Nigeria. and new under contruction terminals.

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan soon to produce electricity through LNG-powered Balloki Power Plant


The LNG-powered Balloki Power Plant currently under construction near Kasur will be operational from September 2017, said Secretary Water and Power Younus Dagha.


Equipped with the latest technology and infrastructure, the 1223 MW Balloki plant will be the most efficient to date in Pakistan – it will produce electricity at an efficiency rate of 62%, which is unmatched by any other power plant in the country.

 

[ghazi52]

Govt, EETPL reach agreement on 230mmcfd LNG supply

Engro’s Elengy Terminal has the capacity to re-gasify 600 million cubic feet per day of LNG.—File

KARACHI: The government and Engro Elengy Terminal Pakistan Ltd (EETPL) have reached an agreement for the supply of about 230 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) at a re-gasification tolling rate of 17 cents per million British thermal unit (mmBtu).

This brings down the average tolling tariff at 47 cents per unit for firm LNG supplies of 630mmcfd through Engro’s floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) that is now the largest source to the national transmission system, said EETPL Chief Executive Officer Jahangir Piracha on Tuesday.

He told an Asian Development Bank (ADB) press tour that Engro was partly compelled by public and media pressure to offer its spare re-gasification capacity at a significantly lower rate than its original tolling rate of 66 cents per unit and partly because of a clause in the agreement. The clause bound the LNG terminal operator to obtain government permission for the utilisation of this additional capacity. ADB provided a $30 million loan to EETPL.

‘Country saving $1.5bn per year in fuel substitution’

He said the agreement had been finalised and was in the process of approval by respective boards of directors. Under the terms of long-term service agreement (LSA), the government had guaranteed processing of 400mmcfd of LNG against terminal’s total capacity of about 630mmcfd for 15 years. He said the 17 cents per unit tolling tariff for additional LNG regasification was required for Engro’s additional expenditures.

After commercial operations of Engro’s FSRU, the government was able to secure a significantly lower bid of about 42 cents per unit from Pakistan Gas Port Limited (PGPL) for second LNG terminal now in final stages of commercial operations.

Mr Piracha said Pakistan was now saving around $1.5 billion per annum in fuel substitution through 630mmcfd of LNG instead of furnace oil even though the government was conservatively putting the furnace oil replacement saving at $1.2bn per year.

Responding to a question, he said the actual savings would be significantly higher when seen in the context of efficient LNG based plants now being lined up for commercial operations and would run at up to 62 per cent efficiency compared to a maximum of 45pc plant efficiency a few best maintained furnace oil-based projects could run at. “It is like shifting corroborator based car engines to EFI (efficient fuel injection) engines that make the big difference,” he explained.

Responding to another query about Engro’s plans for another terminal, Mr Piracha said the four member consortium was still working on the modalities but the project was moving ahead.

He said a consortium comprising oil major Shell, international fuel trader Gunvor, Fatima Group and Engro Corporation would be a totally private sector project and involve no government guarantee, financing, or support and would deal with private sector investors and businesses.

Head of EETPL Operations, Adil Mushtaq said the terminal had so far processed a total of 126 LNG cargos since its inception in March 2015 including six initial consignments supplied by the FSRU itself when Qatargas was working through the safety and security mechanism. All these shipments have together injected a total of 7.4m tonnes of LNG into the system.

He said Qatargas had been operating Q-Flex vessels – medium sized ships – at sub-par capacity because of port constraints. He explained the Q-Flex vessels were bringing 151,000 cubic meters per trip against its capacity of 210,000 cubic meters. The Port Qasim authorities need to improve the channel and create birthing pockets (space) for allowing crossing of multiple ships to ensure maximum capacity utilisation of 142,000 cubic metre per ship that would enhance supply from the FSRU to 690mmcfd.

The port operator is charging a fee to ship and terminal operators to raise funds for additional dredging which should take place at the earliest. Responding to a question, he said Qatargas has been supplying LNG through 74 conventional ships having lower capacity due to port constraints and inducted only 26 Q-Flex carriers, at sub-optimal capacity, after these constraints were party overcome early this year. The remaining 20 ships were arranged through spot purchases.

Talking about the terminal availability, Mr Mushtaq said EETPL operating the FSRU at 98.5pc availability factor against 95.5pc required under the agreement.

He said Engro was one of the top 15 global companies operating such an advanced FSRU developed in a record 330 days- five days ahead of schedule in a high risk sector despite security concerns.

LNG is a cleaner fuel substitute to the expensive alternates like diesel, furnace oil, LPG and kerosene. Recent domestic prices for different fuels, according to Engro executive stood at LPG $15.13 per mmbtu, HSD $17.7 per mmbtu, petrol $18.23 per mmbtu and RLNG $6.74 per mmbtu.

 

[ghazi52]

The Balloki Power Plant is a 1,223 MW natural gas power plant currently under construction near Kasur, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Groundbreaking was commenced on November 11, 2015, and construction is scheduled for completion by December 2017.The project will utilize re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) for fuel, with diesel as an alternate backup. A 40 kilometer long transmission line with a capacity of 500 kilovolts will also be constructed between the new plant and a grid station in southern Lahore.

Bidding was open to international firms for the 82 billion ruppee project.China’s Harbin Electric Company was announced as the lowest evaluated bidder for the project on October 2, 2015, having offered a levellised electricity cost of 7.973 cents per unit, outbidding the Turkish conglomerate Enka İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş. and GE Consortium which both stood in second with 8.185 cents per unit tariff, followed by China Machinery Eng Co (CMEC) & SEFC at 8.304 cents, and Hyundai Engineering at 8.332 cents per unit.

 

[ghazi52]

Siemens to Supply Equipment for Punjab Power Plant in Jhang

Siemens, a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, will supply a complete power island solution for construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant in Jhang, about 250 km south-west of Lahore.

The agreement for the purpose was signed between the Punjab Thermal Power Limited (PTPL), a provincial government owned company responsible for development and maintenance of power plants, and the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for the project.

The power island solution for the Punjab Power Plant to be built in Jhang will comprise two SGT5-8000H gas turbines, an SST-5000 steam turbine, two heat recovery steam generators, and control systems. The cost of the equipment has been valued at around EUR 200 million.

Under the agreement, the German company will also be responsible for engineering, project management and associated site services.

The Punjab Power Plant will be the first in the country to use Siemens’ high-efficiency H-Class gas turbines. SGT-8000H is the company’s largest and most advanced gas turbine in commercial operation. Among its various features are low operating and lifecycle costs.

The company has sold more than 80 H-Class gas turbines worldwide, 47 of which are in commercial operation. The fleet of Siemens H-class gas turbines has achieved about 500,000 fired hours.

 

[ghazi52]

The 1,230 MW Haveli Bahadur Shah RLNG Power Plant has successfully completed its critical reliability test run.

New turbines pass critical test at RLNG plant

ISLAMABAD: One of the new RLNG power plants the government is relying on has successfully completed its critical reliability test run, according to a press release. The plant is located in Haveli Bahadur Shah of Jhang district.

The project is expected to add up to 1,230 megawatts (MW) to the national grid — enough to meet the needs of 2.5 million households.

SEPCOIII, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China, is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project.

 

[ghazi52]

Bhikki Power Plant Running at Complex Load of Gross 1175 MW. The Plant will start commercial operation very soon.The Plant will provide electricity to more than ten millions People of Pakistan very soon.

 

[ghazi52]

Output of 1223 MW RLNG Balloki Power Plant - HRL Group

 

[ghazi52]

Global consultant backed ETPL’s bid for LNG terminal

ISLAMABAD: Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS) has insisted that the financial bid submitted by Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL) had been endorsed by an international consultant and was found to be in compliance with the Request for Proposal (RFP) for building the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the country.

In response to a petition filed in the Supreme Court, ISGS – a company set up by the government to handle gas import projects – said QED Consulting had also apprised that there was no condition attached to the ETPL’s price proposal.

The consultant explained that in order to provide with an independent analysis of ETPL’s price proposal, it had undertaken comparisons.