“We need help”: Traditional owners ignored and marginalized by fracking expansion plans in northern Australia
Recent approval for fracking in the Beetaloo basin is central to the Northern Territory government’s economic development plans but is exposing Aboriginal people to sharp practices and the loss of their traditional lands, writes Lisa Cox in The Guardian.
Space X explosion demands proper risk assessment for proposed LNG plant
The spectacular explosion of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship test rocket in April has implications for the development of the proposed Rio Grande LNG project but regulators are taking a relaxed and seriously out of date approach to the risks involved, writes Trey Cowan for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The Texas Railroad Commission’s methane problem
In the state that produces the most greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., three key regulators with financial ties to the oil and gas industry stand opposed to the Biden administration’s plans to get tough on methane pollution, writes Ben Lefebvre for Politico.
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Documents reveal how concerted influence campaign persuaded Australia’s federal government to support massive new “gas-based manufacturing”: According to documents seen by The Guardian, a high-powered lobbying effort has taken the concept of a massive gas-based infrastructure complex in Darwin Harbour and not only secured an AU$1.5 billion (US$1 billion) federal subsidy for its likely realization in the next few years but also delivered a “sustainable” gloss for a project that critics say will lock Australia into gas production for 50 more years. The 1,500-hectare Middle Arm sustainable development precinct is being billed as “a globally competitive, sustainable development precinct for renewable hydrogen, carbon capture storage and minerals processing.” More precisely, it is designed to be a key port and manufacturing hub for the Northern Territory (NT) state government’s ambitions to develop major untapped gas reserves in the Beetaloo basin and offshore and will be a production site for petrochemicals and blue and green hydrogen, as well as critical minerals. A nexus of lobbyists and business figures and former politicians with industry ties have been enlisted by the NT government, which is lining up to deliver an environmental impact assessment for the project later this year. Attention is also falling on the potential for Saudi Aramco to expand its business interests in Australia by tapping into Middle Arm. (The Guardian)
Rosebank approval said to be imminent as Labour pledges end to North Sea licenses: Ahead of a national UK election within the next 18 months, and commanding a comfortable double-digit lead in the opinion polls, the opposition Labour Party confirmed in its green energy strategy that it will end new North Sea oil and gas exploration if elected to power. Following several weeks of heated debate, party leader Sir Keith Starmer spelled out however that any existing licenses at the time of the election will be honored. This is likely to now include the disputed Rosebank oil and gas field being spearheaded by Equinor and Ithaca. Media speculation suggests that Rosebank is likely to be approved by UK regulators within the next two weeks. Amid the continuing furore over Labour’s North Sea plans, the Carbon Brief climate and energy website has countered UK government claims that Labour’s curb on new drilling licenses “would make the UK reliant on tyrants” due to the need for increased gas imports. Taken in the round, Carbon Brief’s analysis shows, Labour’s pledge to also decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2030 would cut UK demand for imported gas in 2030, even after accounting for lower production from the North Sea. (Offshore Technology, Carbon Brief)
Major Black Sea field finally sanctioned: Eleven years after its discovery, a final investment decision has been taken for the 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) Neptun Deep project in the Black Sea. Announcing the sanctioning of the €4 billion (US$4.4 billion) project, Romania’s OMV Petrom — majority-controlled by Austria’s OMV — and state-owned gas producer Romgaz said they expect first gas by 2027. The move followed greenlighting of the construction for the 308-kilometer offshore and onshore Tuzla-Podisor pipeline that will link the Neptun Deep block to the BRUA pipeline planned to run through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Austria. Finance watchdog group CEE Bankwatch Network said that the plans to exploit Neptun for at least 20 years would exceed the timeframe by when Europe’s energy system should be free of fossil fuels and urged the Romanian government “to suspend this reckless extraction.” (Reuters, Upstream, CEE Bankwatch Network)
Fracking prospects down but not out in South Australia: Hopes that the environmentally sensitive Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin in western Queensland will be spared the introduction of widespread fracking for gas have been boosted by the recent withdrawal of a big energy player. As part of a strategic pull-out from upstream exploration, Origin Energy has recently surrendered most of its licenses in the basin, home to the world’s last major free-flowing river system. “Origin didn’t give up on these tenements out of charity — it did so because in a decarbonising world, fracking for fossil gas in a place as remote as far western Queensland makes less and less commercial sense,” said Nick Holliday of Lock the Gate, a nationwide grassroots organization. “We hope this is a sign of things to come, and the Palaszczuk Government is finally making good on its promise to protect some of the last free flowing desert rivers in the world from the scourge of fracking.” The state government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, has opened a consultation to assess options for protecting the Queensland section of the basin. (InQueensland)
Israel advances two offshore fields: Following recent media speculation, the Israeli government has said it wants to proceed with development of the Gaza Marine gas field 30 kilometers offshore of Gaza but acknowledged that project progress will require security coordination with the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. The preliminary approval for Gaza Marine, estimated to hold more than 1 trillion cubic feet of gas, was issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. In response, a Palestinian official commented, “We are waiting to know what exactly the Israelis have agreed to in details. We can’t make a position based on a statement to the media.” Earlier this month, Israel formally recognized the Katlan field, its fourth largest discovery, as a gas reserve. The British-Greek energy company Energean has been granted permission to plan and develop Katlan, which has an estimated capacity of approximately 68 bcm. (Oilprice, Republic World)
“The fossil fuel industry is at the heart of the climate crisis. The problem is not simply fossil fuel emissions. It’s fossil fuels — period. Countries must progressively phase them out, moving to leave oil, coal and gas in the ground — and massively boost renewable investments,”
said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN climate talks in Bonn.
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Argentina: The first 573 kilometer section of the Néstor Kirchner pipeline, to bring gas from the Vaca Muerta shale fields to the country’s main population centers in and around Buenos Aires, has been inaugurated.
Croatia: Finnish company Wärtsilä has been contracted to install a new regasification train in order to expand capacity at the Krk floating LNG terminal in summer 2025.
Cyprus: Ahead of talks with Israel scheduled for next month, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou says that momentum is growing for a cheaper and quicker LNG alternative to the long-discussed EastMed pipeline.
Czech Republic: A memorandum of understanding on future energy cooperation has been signed with the government of New Brunswick, including for LNG if the industry develops in the Canadian province.
Germany: Deutsche ReGas says it will launch a binding open season by the end of this month for LNG terminal capacity at two floating storage and regasification units to be located at the port of Mukran on the island of Rügen, with operations expected to start from December 2023.
Iraq: The oil ministry is inviting foreign companies to bid for contracts to explore and develop gas reserves in 11 new blocks across the country.
Italy: Edison has opened a new 780 megawatt gas plant near Venice that should be able to run on a hydrogen-gas mix “within a few years.”
Russia: International sanctions have brought about a jump in costs for Novatek’s flagship Arctic LNG 2 project from approximately US$21.3 billion to over US$22 billion.
Russia: Novatek’s Yamal LNG terminal has received state approval to continue exporting to Sefe Marketing & Trading, the German import and distribution firm, until the end of 2024.
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Promotion of Ukraine’s gas storage potential ramps up: Representatives from the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) and other senior energy officials have offered more than 100 transportation routes between available gas storage facilities in the country and Europe. At a June 14 meeting with overseas gas transportation trading companies, GTSOU outlined the availability of more than 10 bcm of capacity at underground gas storage facilities near the country’s western border. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič also talked up the potential for Ukraine to become the EU’s energy storage hub. “Ukraine has the largest underground storage facilities for gas in Europe — 33 billion cubic meters, just at the border of Slovakia,” Šefčovič said. “It could be a very important strategic asset for the energy security of the European Union.” (Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, Politico)
Church of England loses all faith in majors with divestment announcement: After ten years of engagement efforts with Shell and other majors, the Church of England Pensions Board has announced that it is selling all of its remaining investments in the oil and gas sector citing a lack of sufficient ambition from companies — including BP, Equinor, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies — to decarbonise in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C climate goal. “Recent reversals of previous commitments, most notably by BP and Shell, has undermined confidence in the sector’s ability to transition,” John Ball, CEO of the board, said in a statement. The Pensions Board said its priority going forward will be to engage instead with sectors such as the car industry as part of efforts to reshape the demand for oil and gas. The church’s £10.3 billion (US$13 billion) endowment fund will also now exclude oil and gas companies from its portfolio. (The Church of England, The Guardian)
Gas shortages draw Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan closer to Russia: Despite diplomatic pressure from the U.S., Central Asia’s two biggest economies are being drawn into increasing gas dependency with Russia. Uzbekistan has just signed a two-year, 2.8 bcm/y contract with Gazprom and both it and Kazakhstan are due to start receiving Russian gas this month. While the countries possess substantial gas reserves, both were rocked by public protests last winter due to heating and gas shortages. A rapid growth in domestic gas consumption, population growth, and industrial development are said to be behind the shortages, and Moscow has been keen to cement a formal tripartite gas union as its 150 bcm/y deliveries to western Europe have gradually dried up over the last year. Exactly how formal and exacting this union will be remains to be seen, as both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan do not want to concede ownership of their gas pipeline infrastructure to Gazprom. (Business New Europe, Reuters)
Global LNG trade up by 5% in 2022 — U.S. EIA: Continuing a relatively flat trend since 2019, and despite what seemed like a banner year that featured the deployment of a U.S. tanker “armada” to Europe and much industry cheerleading, global trade in LNG rose by only 5% in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Fed chiefly by sharply rising U.S. exports, imports into the EU-27 countries and the UK grew by 73% as the continent frantically sought replacement supply for Russian piped gas. A 9% decline in Asian imports was registered, mainly as a result of record-high spot prices and steeply suppressed (-20%) Chinese demand. Qatar and Australia were the top two exporting countries respectively, with U.S. ambitions to become the number one exporter by volume dented by the Freeport LNG terminal being taken offline following a fire and explosion in June. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Contrasting fortunes for Bangladesh and Pakistan: Badly impacted by last year’s sky-high prices for LNG imports that priced them out of the market, the two South Asian countries have been making efforts to get back in. Pakistan’s latest attempt to rejoin the LNG spot market failed, however, as suppliers declined to bid for six shipments in the fourth quarter amid ongoing concerns about the country’s economic and political fragility. Bangladesh, which relies on imported LNG for nearly three-quarters of its power generation, has been able to return to the spot market this year as prices have softened. This month has also seen state-owned Petrobangla secure two long-term supply deals with Oman and Qatar, both of which will commence in 2026. (Reuters, LNG Prime, Bloomberg)
China’s short-term LNG demand picks up as another major long-term supply deal is struck: China’s demand for LNG continues to creep up, with imports in May rising for the fourth month in a row, according to official customs data. LNG imports reached 6.41 million tons in May, a 31.5% year-on-year rise. In the second big LNG supply deal between the two countries in less than a year, state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and QatarEnergy have signed a 27-year deal under which CNPC will buy four million tons of LNG per year through to 2053. In addition, it was announced that CNPC had joined Sinopec in securing an equity stake in the massive eastern expansion of Qatar’s North Field LNG project due online in 2026. (LNG Prime, Reuters)
“From now onwards, every single badged participant attending the event will be required to list their affiliation and relationship to that organization,”
said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, on new rules that will require all delegates to future UN climate summits — including coal, oil, and gas representatives — to disclose their industry ties.
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