LNG

Wood and KBR inked a multimillion-dollar contract to deliver integrated front-end engineering design (FEED) for Shell Australia's Crux project to build a not-normally-manned (NNM) platform and gas export pipeline located approximately 600 km north of Broome, offshore Western Australia (WA). The Crux field water depth is 110 to 170 m.

First gas from the Cassia C platform, which will help maintain production rates to the Atlantic LNG terminal, is expected in 2021. The Matapal project, which will tie back to the Juniper platform, will come on stream in 2022.

The US EIA projects LNG export capacity will rise to 8.9 Bcf/D by the end of next year, making the US the third-largest exporting country in the world behind Australia and Qatar.

Natural gas prices have risen in the US but not in west Texas. The contrast is a sign of the growing pains that come with explosive growth changing this increasingly competitive market.

The agreement calls for the two companies to partner on techno-economic feasibility studies and jointly assess investment opportunities across the LNG value chain.

Canadian agencies will begin establishing the scope of environmental assessment of the project, which is scheduled to start up in 2024.

Despite the uncertainty spawned by China’s recent decision to levy tariffs on US LNG imports, AGDC said it is still targeting a sale and purchase agreement with Chinese companies by the end of this year.

After years of near-misses, a Shell-led partnership is building the first liquefied natural gas export facility in Canada. It creates a much-needed export market for producers facing a gas glut, but more is needed.

Industry analysts fear bad news for producers, as Chinese demand is expected to be a significant driver in new LNG production. China accounted for 15% of US LNG exports in 2017.

The construction of an LNG regasification terminal in Tema, Ghana, in addition to the first delivery of gas from the offshore Sankofa field in August, is decreasing the country’s reliance on liquid fuels and imports. About 80% of its power generation requirements will be met with gas.