Tag Archives: GASPIP

Business

Storm cuts U.S. oil, gas, power output, sending prices higher

Leave a comment

Dec 23 (Reuters) – Frigid cold and blowing winds on Friday knocked out power and cut energy production across the United States, driving up heating and electricity prices as people prepared for holiday celebrations.

Winter Storm Elliott brought sub-freezing temperatures and extreme weather alerts to about two-thirds of the United States, with cold and snow in some areas to linger through the Christmas holiday.

More than 1.5 million homes and businesses lost power, oil refineries in Texas cut gasoline and diesel production on equipment failures, and heating and power prices surged on the losses. Oil and gas output from North Dakota to Texas suffered freeze-ins, cutting supplies.

Some 1.5 million barrels of daily refining capacity along the U.S. Gulf Coast was shut due to the bitterly cold temperatures. The production losses are not expected to last, but they have lifted fuel prices.

Knocked out were TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), Motiva Enterprises (MOTIV.UL) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) facilities outside Houston. Cold weather also disrupted Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), LyondellBasell (LYB.N) and Valero Energy (VLO.N) plants in Texas that produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana said weather disrupted its production of liquefied natural gas without providing details. Crews at the 12 million tonne-per-year facility were trying to restore output, it said.

Freeze-ins – in which ice crystals halt oil and gas production – this week trimmed production in North Dakota’s oilfields by 300,000 to 350,000 barrels per day, or a third of normal. In Texas’s Permian oilfield, the freeze led to more gas being withdrawn than was injected, said El Paso Natural Gas operator Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI.N).

U.S. benchmark oil prices on Friday jumped 2.4% to $79.56, and next-day gas in west Texas jumped 22% to around $9 per million British thermal units , the highest since the state’s 2021 deep freeze.

Power prices on Texas’s grid also spiked to $3,700 per megawatt hour, prompting generators to add more power to the grid before prices fell back as thermal and solar supplies came online.

New England’s bulk power supplier said it expected to have enough to supply demand, but elsewhere strong winds led to outages largely in the Southeast and Midwest; North Carolina counted more than 187,000 without power.

“Crews are restoring power but high winds are making repairs challenging at most of the 4,600 outage locations,” Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks wrote on Twitter.

Heating oil and natural gas futures rose sharply in response to the cold. U.S. heating oil futures gained 4.3% while natural gas futures rose 2.5%.

In New England, gas for Friday at the Algonquin hub soared 361% to a near 11-month high of $30 mmBtu.

About half of the power generated in New England comes from gas-fired plants, but on the coldest days, power generators shift to burn more oil. According to grid operator New England ISO, power companies’ generation mix was at 17% from oil-fired plants as of midday Friday.

Gas output dropped about 6.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) over the past four days to a preliminary nine-month low of 92.4 bcfd on Friday as wells froze in Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

That is the biggest drop in output since the February 2021 freeze knocked out power for millions in Texas.

One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.

Reporting by Erwin Seba and Scott DiSavino; additional reporting by Arathy Somasekhar and Laila Kearney; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Kirsten Donovan, Aurora Ellis and Leslie Adler

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Scott Disavino

Thomson Reuters

Covers the North American power and natural gas markets.

Read original article here

World

Druzhba pipeline leak reduces Russian oil flows to Germany

Leave a comment

WARSAW, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Germany said on Wednesday it was receiving less oil but still had adequate supplies, after Poland found a leak in the Druzhba pipeline that delivers crude from Russia to Europe that Warsaw said was probably caused by an accident rather than sabotage.

The discovery of the leak in the main route carrying oil to Germany, which operator PERN said it found on Tuesday evening, comes as Europe is on high alert over its energy security as it faces a severe crisis in the aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine which has cut supplies of gas.

“Security of supply in Germany is currently guaranteed,” an economy ministry spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The refineries in Schwedt and Leuna continue to receive crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline.”

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

The Schwedt refinery, which supplies 90% of Berlin’s fuel, said in an emailed statement that deliveries were taking place at reduced capacity.

Germany said it was hoping for more information soon from Poland about the cause of the leak and how it can be repaired.

Europe has been on high alert over the security of its energy infrastructure since major leaks were found last month in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines running from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea. Both the West and Russia have blamed sabotage.

However, Poland’s top official in charge of energy infrastructure, Mateusz Berger, told Reuters by telephone that the leak in the Druzhba pipeline was most likely caused by “accidental damage”.

“We are living in turbulent times, different connotations are possible, but at this stage we have no grounds at all to believe that,” he said, when asked about the possibility of sabotage.

Berger said the leak was located 70 km (44 miles) west from Plock, where Poland’s biggest refinery owned by PKN Orlen is located. As a result, part of the shipping capacity towards Germany was not available, he said, adding that repairs would likely “not take long”.

PERN said supplies to Germany were reduced but continuing.

Reuters Graphics

GERMAN, POLAND REFINERY SUPPLIES

A model of a pipe line is seen at the main entrance to the Gomel Transneft oil pumping station, which moves crude through the Northern Druzhba pipeline westwards to Poland and Europe, near Mozyr, Belarus, in this file picture taken January 4, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

The Druzhba oil pipeline, whose name means “friendship” in Russian, is one of the world’s largest, supplying Russian oil to much of central Europe including Germany, Poland, Belarus, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Russia’s Transneft state-owned pipeline monopoly said that oil continues to be pumped towards Poland.

Poland’s PKN Orlen (PKN.WA) said that oil supplies to its Plock refinery were not interrupted while Czech pipeline operator MERO said it had not seen any change in flows to the Czech Republic.

“The main action (we are taking) is to pump out the liquid and locate the leak and stop it,” fire brigade spokesman Karol Kierzkowski told state broadcaster TVP Info.

“When the pressure decreases, the leak will stop and allow us to reach the leak,” he said, adding that it was too early to establish the cause and there was no danger to the public.

Firefighters in the mid-northern Kujawsko-Pomorskie region of Poland said they had pumped about 400 cubic metres of oil and water from the site of the leak which was in the middle of a corn field.

The second line of the pipeline, and other elements of PERN’s infrastructure, were working as normal, PERN said.

“At this point, all PERN services (technical, operational, in-house fire brigade and environmental protection) are taking action in accordance with the algorithms provided for this type of situation,” the operator said.

The total capacity of the western section of the pipeline that ships oil from central Poland to Germany is 27 million tonnes of crude oil per year.

Germany’s Schwedt refinery is particularly dependent on Druzhba.

The German government aims to eliminate imports of oil from Russia by the end of the year under European Union sanctions. But in the first seven months of the year, Russia was still its top supplier, accounting for just over 30% of oil imports.

As Germany looks for alternative supplies for Schwedt, Druzhba could be instrumental in supplying oil via the Polish port in Gdansk.

The German government has also been in talks to secure oil from Kazakhstan to supply Schwedt, but that oil would have to flow to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline too.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting by Reuters bureaus writing by Alan Charlish and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Jan Harvey and Elaine Hardcastle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Business

Russia deepens Europe’s energy squeeze with new gas halt

Leave a comment

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

  • Outage for maintenance on Nord Stream 1 pipeline
  • No flows to Germany 0100 GMT, Aug. 31 – 0100 GMT, Sept. 3
  • European governments fear Moscow could extend the outage
  • German regulator: we are saving gas, must keep doing so
  • Siemens Energy: not involved in maintenance work

FRANKFURT/LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Russia halted gas supplies via Europe’s key supply route on Wednesday, intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region’s richest countries.

European governments fear Moscow could extend the outage in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine and have accused Russia of using energy supplies as a “weapon of war”. Moscow denies doing this and has cited technical reasons for supply cuts.

Russian state energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said Nord Stream 1, the biggest pipeline carrying gas to its top customer Germany, will be out for maintenance from 0100 GMT on Aug. 31 to 0100 GMT on Sept. 3. read more

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

The president of the German network regulator said that Germany would be able to cope with the three-day outage as long as flows resumed on Saturday.

“I assume that we will be able to cope with it,” Klaus Mueller told Reuters TV in an interview. “I trust that Russia will return to at least 20% from Saturday, but no one can really say.”

Further restrictions to European gas supplies would deepen an energy crunch that has already triggered a 400% surge in wholesale gas prices since last August, squeezing consumers and businesses and forcing governments to spend billions to ease the burden. read more

In Germany, inflation soared to its highest in almost 50 years in August and consumer sentiment soured as households brace for a spike in energy bills. read more

LOWER SUPPLIES

Unlike last month’s 10-day maintenance for Nord Stream 1, the latest work was announced less than two weeks in advance and is being carried out by Gazprom rather than its operator.

Moscow, which slashed supply via the pipeline to 40% of capacity in June and to 20% in July, blames maintenance issues and sanctions it says prevent the return and installation of equipment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia remained committed to its gas supply obligations, but was unable to fulfil them due to the sanctions, according to the Interfax news agency.

Gazprom said the latest shutdown was needed to perform maintenance on the pipeline’s only remaining compressor at the Portovaya station in Russia, saying the work would be carried out jointly with Siemens specialists.

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the ‘Nord Stream 1’ gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE), which has carried out maintenance work on compressors and turbines at the station in the past, said on Wednesday it was not involved in the maintenance but stood ready to advise Gazprom if needed. read more

Russia has also stopped supplying Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland, and reduced flows via other pipelines since launching what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. read more

Gazprom said on Tuesday it would also suspend gas deliveries to its French contractor because of a payments dispute, which France’s energy minister called an excuse, but added that the country had anticipated the loss of supply. read more

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, on a mission to replace Russian gas imports by mid-2024, earlier this month said Nord Stream 1 was “fully operational” and there were no technical issues as claimed by Moscow.

‘ELEMENT OF SURPRISE’

The reduced flows via Nord Stream have complicated efforts across Europe to save enough gas to make it through the winter months, when governments fear Russia may halt flows altogether.

“It is something of a miracle that gas filling levels in Germany have continued to rise nonetheless,” Commerzbank analysts wrote, noting the country has so far managed to buy enough at higher prices elsewhere.

In the meantime, some Europeans are voluntarily cutting their energy consumption, including limiting their use of electrical appliances and showering at work to save money while companies are bracing for possible rationing. read more

With storage tanks filled in 83.65%, Germany is already close to its 85% target set for Oct. 1, but it has warned reaching 95% by Nov. 1 would be a stretch unless companies and households slash consumption.

European Union as a whole reached 80.17% of its storage capacity, already ahead of the 80% target set for Oct. 1, when the continent’s heating season starts.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs said their base scenario was that the latest Nord Stream 1 outage would not be extended.

“If it did, there would be no more element of surprise and reduced revenues, while low flows and the occasional drop to zero have the potential to keep market volatility and political pressure on Europe higher,” they said.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Reporting Nina Chestney and Christoph Steitz; Additional reporting by Matthias Inverardi, Bharat Govind Gautam and Eileen Soreng; Editing by Veronica Brown, Carmel Crimmins, Lincoln Feast and Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Nina Chestney

Thomson Reuters

Oversees and coordinates EMEA coverage of power, gas, LNG, coal and carbon markets and has 20 years’ experience in journalism. Writes about those markets as well as climate change, climate science, the energy transition and renewable energy and investment.

Read original article here

World

Europe on edge as Nord Stream Russian gas link enters planned shutdown

Leave a comment

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the ‘Nord Stream 1’ gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

  • Nord Stream 1 maintenance to run from July 11-21
  • Fears outage could be extended
  • Kremlin says shutdown is regular event
  • Extended halt would hurt economies, increase prices

LONDON/FRANKFURT, July 11 (Reuters) – The biggest single pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany started annual maintenance on Monday, with flows expected to stop for10 days, but governments, markets and companies are worried the shutdown might be extended due to war in Ukraine.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline transports 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year of gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Maintenance lasts from July 11 to 21.

Last month, Russia cut flows to 40% of the pipeline’s total capacity, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany’s Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE), in Canada. read more

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Canada said at the weekend it would return a repaired turbine, but it also said it would expand sanctions against Russia’s energy sector. read more

Europe fears Russia may extend the scheduled maintenance to restrict European gas supply further, throwing plans to fill storage for winter into disarray and heightening a gas crisis that has prompted emergency measures from governments and painfully high bills for consumers.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has said the country should confront the possibility that Russia will suspend gas flows through Nord Stream 1 beyond the scheduled maintenance period.

“Based on the pattern we’ve seen, it would not be very surprising now if some small, technical detail is found and then they could say ‘now we can’t turn it on any more’,” he said at an event at the end of June.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed claims that Russia was using oil and gas to exert political pressure, saying the maintenance shutdown was a regular, scheduled event, and that no one was “inventing” any repairs. read more

There are other big pipelines from Russia to Europe but flows have been gradually declining, especially after Ukraine halted one gas transit route in May, blaming interference by occupying Russian forces.

Russia has cut off gas supplies completely to several European countries that did not comply with its demand for payment in roubles.

“The last few months have shown one thing: Putin knows no taboos. A complete halt to gas supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline cannot therefore be ruled out,” Timm Kehler, managing director of German industry association Zukunft Gas, said.

TURBINE TROUBLE

Germany at the weekend welcomed Canada’s decision to issue a “time-limited and revocable permit” to allow equipment to be returned for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

But Ukraine’s energy and foreign ministries said in a statement they were “deeply disappointed” and urged Canada to reverse a decision they said amounted to adjusting the sanctions imposed on Moscow “to the whims of Russia”.

Siemens Energy said it was working on further formal approvals and logistics to get the equipment in place as soon as possible. read more

Zongqiang Luo, gas analyst at consultancy Rystad Energy, said it was “not impossible” Gazprom could use any delay as a justification to extend the maintenance period.

In previous years, the annual maintenance period on Nord Stream 1 has lasted around 10-12 days and has finished on time.

It is not uncommon for additional faults to be detected during routine maintenance at pipelines or gas infrastructure and operators can prolong outages if necessary.

While a complete halt of gas is considered unlikely, Gazprom has not been re-routing flows via other pipelines, meaning a prolonged reduced flow rate is probable, analysts at Goldman Sachs said.

MULTI-BILLION ECONOMIC BLOW

Germany has moved to stage two of a three-tier emergency gas plan, which is one step before the government rations fuel consumption.

It has also warned of recession if Russian gas flows are halted. The blow to the economy could be 193 billion euros ($195 billion) in the second half of this year, data from the vbw industry association of the state of Bavaria showed last month.

“The abrupt end of Russian gas imports would also have a significant impact on the workforce in Germany … Around 5.6 million jobs would be affected by the consequences,” vwb’s managing director Bertram Brossardt said. read more

The effects would be wider still. A complete halt would keep European gas prices, which have already stung industry and households, higher for longer.

Wholesale Dutch gas prices, the European benchmark, have risen more than 400% since last July.

“If Nord Stream gets cut off, or if Germany loses all its Russian imports, then the effect will be felt on the whole of north-western Europe,” Dutch energy minister Rob Jetten said.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, he said the Dutch Groningen gas field could still be called upon the help neighbouring countries in the event of a complete cut off in Russian supplies, but ramping up production would risk causing earthquakes. read more

Meanwhile, a halt of supply through Nord Stream 1 would hurt Russia as well as western Europe because it would lose revenues.

Russia’s finance ministry said it in June expected to receive 393 billion roubles ($6.4 billion) in extra oil and gas revenues compared with the amount expected in its budget planning. read more

For July, it expects 259 billion roubles above its budget plan.

Extended maintenance could also result in more Russian gas production shut-ins, relative to the 9% year-to-date year-on-year decline in Gazprom production reported so far, Goldman Sachs said.

($1 = 0.9898 euros)

($1 = 61.5000 roubles)

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Nina Chestney in London and Vera Eckert in Frankfurt; additional reporting by Tom Kaekenhoff in Frankfurt, Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Miranda Murray and Riham Alkousaa in Berlin; editing by Veronica Brown and Barbara Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

Germany triggers gas alarm stage, accuses Russia of ‘economic attack’

Leave a comment

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the ‘Nord Stream 1’ gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke//File Photo

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

  • West, Russia in energy standoff since Ukraine invasion
  • German minister warns of ‘rocky road’ ahead
  • Minister does not rule out gas rationing
  • Russian flows through Nord Stream 1 stable on Thursday
  • Risk of full disruption growing: EU’s Timmermans

BERLIN, June 23 (Reuters) – Germany triggered the “alarm stage” of its emergency gas plan on Thursday in response to falling Russian supplies but stopped short of allowing utilities to pass on soaring energy costs to customers in Europe’s largest economy.

The measure is the latest escalation in a standoff between Europe and Moscow since the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has exposed the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas supplies and sparked a frantic search for alternative energy sources.

The decision, announced by the economy minister, marks a stark shift especially for Germany, which has cultivated strong energy ties with Moscow stretching back to the Cold War.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Lower gas flows sparked warnings this week that Germany could fall into recession if Russia supplies halted altogether. S&P Global’s flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) on Thursday showed the economy losing momentum in the second quarter. read more

“We must not fool ourselves: The cut in gas supplies is an economic attack on us by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement, adding Germans would have to reduce consumption.

“It is obviously Putin’s strategy to create insecurity, drive up prices and divide us as a society,” he added. “This is what we are fighting against.”

Gas rationing would hopefully be avoided but cannot be ruled out, Habeck said.

Russia has denied the gas supply reductions were premeditated, with state supplier Gazprom (GAZP.MM) blaming a delay in return of serviced equipment caused by Western sanctions.

Under its Phase 2 plan, Berlin will provide a credit line of 15 billion euros ($15.76 billion) to fill gas storage facilities. In addition, a gas auction model will be launched this summer to encourage industrial gas consumers to save gas.

The government activates the second “alarm stage” of a three-stage emergency plan when it sees a high risk of long-term supply shortages. It theoretically allows utilities to pass on high prices to industry and households and thereby help to lower demand. read more

A move to the next phase has been the subject of speculation since Gazprom cut flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline across the Baltic Sea to just 40% of capacity last week.

Facing dwindling gas flows from main supplier Russia, Germany has since late March been at Phase 1 of its emergency plan, which includes stricter monitoring of daily flows and a focus on filling gas storage facilities.

RISK OF FULL DISRUPTION

In the second stage, the market is still able to function without the need for state intervention that would kick in the final emergency stage.

“We have seen some serious cuts already,” a gas trader in Europe said. “The system is still coping, but there’s not much left,” he said.

The benchmark Dutch wholesale gas contract for July delivery rose as much as 4%, to 131.50 euros per Megawatt/hour (MWh) before settling at 128 euros/MWh by 0835 GMT, still up for the day.

Nord Stream 1 is due to undergo maintenance on July 11-21 when flows will stop.

Russia may cut off gas to Europe entirely to bolster its political leverage, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, adding Europe needed to prepare now.

Russian gas flows to Europe via Nord Stream 1 and through Ukraine were stable on Thursday, while reverse flows on the Yamal pipeline edged up, operator data showed.

Several European countries have outlined measures to withstand a supply squeeze and avert winter energy shortages and an inflation spike that could test the continent’s resolve to maintain sanctions on Russia.

The supply cuts have also driven German companies to contemplate painful production cuts and resorting to polluting forms of energy previously considered unthinkable as they adjust to the prospect of running out of Russian gas. read more

The European Union on Wednesday signalled it would temporarily turn to coal to plug energy shortfalls, while describing Moscow’s gas supply cuts as “rogue moves.”

The bloc’s climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Thursday that 10 of the EU’s 27 member countries have issued an “early warning” on gas supply – the first and least severe of three crisis levels identified in EU energy security regulations.

“The risk of full gas disruption is now more real than ever before,” he said.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Holger Hansen, Christian Kraemer, Vera Eckert, Marwa Rashad, Kate Abnett, Nora Buli; writing by Matthias Williams
Editing by Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

Business

Freeport LNG plant to shut for 3 weeks, roiling global energy markets

Leave a comment

HOUSTON, June 8 (Reuters) – Freeport LNG, operator of one of the largest U.S. export plants producing liquefied natural gas (LNG), will shut for at least three weeks following an explosion at its Texas Gulf Coast facility.

The fire roiled U.S. natural gas markets on Wednesday and the impact is likely to spread through Europe and Asia markets, analysts said.

Freeport LNG, which provides around 20% of U.S. LNG processing, disclosed the shutdown late on Wednesday after appraising damage to the massive facility.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Its closure takes away a major supplier to markets already strained by European buyers shunning Russian LNG over its invasion of Ukraine – actions that Moscow calls a “special operation” – and by resurgent demand in China, analysts said.

“This is a significant production outage at a major U.S facility,” said Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG at research firm Rapidan Energy. Freeport LNG ships about four cargoes per week and a three-week shutdown will take at least 1 million tonnes of LNG off the market, he said.

“It’s going to mean one thing: shortages. The competition for spot LNG is going to drive global LNG prices higher,” Munton said.

The plant can process up to 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcfd), and at full capacity can export 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of the liquid gas. U.S. LNG exports hit a record 9.7 bcfd last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In March, 21 cargoes loaded at the Freeport facility, carrying an estimated 64 billion cubic feet of gas to destinations in Europe, South Korea and China, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That’s up from 15 cargoes in February and 19 in January.

U.S. natural gas futures sank following news of the explosion on concerns it could disrupt the plant’s demand for gas. They closed down about 6% at $8.699 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), having hit a near 14-year high of $9.664 mmBtu earlier in the day.

Freeport LNG was founded in 2002 by billionaire Michael Smith, and processes gas for companies including BP (BP.L), JERA, Kansai Electric (9503.T), Osaka Gas (9532.T), SK E&S and TotalEnergies . It is in the midst of expanding the plant’s capacity to 20 MTPA.

An investigation into what prompted the explosion was underway, a spokesperson for the company said, without elaborating on the cause of the fire.

A representative for the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday said a security zone had been set up two miles east and west of Freeport LNG’s facility, closing that portion of the intracoastal waterway to vessel traffic.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver, Sabrina Valle in Houston and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Richard Pullin, Chris Reese and Kenneth Maxwell

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

Ukraine to halt key Russian gas transit to Europe, blames Moscow

Leave a comment

Gas pipelines are pictured at the Atamanskaya compressor station, facility of Gazprom’s Power Of Siberia project outside the far eastern town of Svobodny, in Amur region, Russia November 29, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

KYIV/LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Tuesday it would suspend the flow of gas through a transit point which it said delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine, blaming Moscow for the move and saying it would move the flows elsewhere.

Ukraine has remained a major transit route for Russian gas to Europe even after Moscow’s invasion.

GTSOU, which operates Ukraine’s gas system, said it would stop shipments via the Sokhranivka route from Wednesday, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

But Gazprom (GAZP.MM), which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, said it was “technologically impossible” to shift all volumes to the Sudzha interconnection point further west, as GTSOU proposed.

GTSOU CEO Sergiy Makogon told Reuters that Russian occupying forces had started taking gas transiting through Ukraine and sending it to two Russia-backed separatist regions in the country’s east. He did not cite evidence.

The company said it could not operate at the Novopskov gas compressor station due to “the interference of the occupying forces in technical processes”, adding it could temporarily shift the affected flow to the Sudzha physical interconnection point located in territory controlled by Ukraine.

Ukraine’s suspension of Russian natural gas flows through the Sokhranivka route should not have an impact on the domestic Ukrainian market, state energy firm Naftogaz head Yuriy Vitrenko told Reuters.

The state gas company in Moldova, a small nation on Ukraine’s western border, said it had not received any notice from GTSOU or Gazprom that supplies would be interrupted.

The Novopskov compressor station in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian forces and separatist fighters since soon after Moscow began what it describes as a “special military operation” in February. read more

It is the first compressor in the Ukraine gas transit system in the Luhansk region, the transit route for around 32.6 million cubic metres of gas a day, or a third of the Russian gas which is piped to Europe through Ukraine, GTSOU said.

GTSOU said that in order to fulfil its “transit obligations to European partners in full” it would “temporarily transfer unavailable capacity” to the Sudzha interconnection point.

Gazprom said it had received notification from Ukraine that the country would stop the transit of gas to Europe via the Sokhranivka interconnector from 0700 local time on Wednesday.

The Russian company said it saw no proof of force majeure or obstacles to continuing as before. Gazprom added that it was meeting all obligations to buyers of gas in Europe.

The United States has urged countries to lessen their dependence on Russian energy and has banned Russian oil and other energy imports in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday’s announcement does not change the timeline to lessen global dependence on Russian oil “as soon as possible.”

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Reporting by Susanna Twidale and Pavel Polityuk; additional reporting by Nina Chestney in London, Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and and David Ljunggren in Ottawa;
Editing by Alexander Smith, Cynthia Osterman and Rosalba O’Brien

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here

World

‘Eye of fire’ in Mexican waters snuffed out, says national oil company

Leave a comment

MEXICO CITY, July 2 (Reuters) – A fire on the ocean surface west of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula early on Friday has been extinguished, state oil company Pemex said, blaming a gas leak from an underwater pipeline for sparking the blaze captured in videos that went viral.

Bright orange flames jumping out of water resembling molten lava was dubbed an “eye of fire” on social media due to the blaze’s circular shape, as it raged a short distance from a Pemex oil platform.

The fire took more than five hours to fully put out, according to Pemex.

The fire began in an underwater pipeline that connects to a platform at Pemex’s flagship Ku Maloob Zaap oil development, the company’s most important, four sources told Reuters earlier.

Ku Maloob Zaap is located just up from the southern rim of the Gulf of Mexico.

Pemex said no injuries were reported, and production from the project was not affected after the gas leak ignited around 5:15 a.m. local time. It was completely extinguished by 10:30 a.m.

The company added it would investigate the cause of the fire.

Pemex, which has a long record of major industrial accidents at its facilities, added it also shut the valves of the 12-inch-diameter pipeline.

Angel Carrizales, head of Mexico’s oil safety regulator ASEA, wrote on Twitter that the incident “did not generate any spill.” He did not explain what was burning on the water’s surface.

Ku Maloob Zaap is Pemex’s biggest crude oil producer, accounting for more than 40% of its nearly 1.7 million barrels of daily output.

“The turbomachinery of Ku Maloob Zaap’s active production facilities were affected by an electrical storm and heavy rains,” according to a Pemex incident report shared by one of Reuters’ sources.

Company workers used nitrogen to control the fire, the report added.

Details from the incident report were not mentioned in Pemex’s brief press statement and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Adriana Barrera and Marianna Parraga; Additional reporting by David Alire Garcia; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Philippa Fletcher and David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read original article here