Robot to Replace Inspection Engineer in the Chemical Industry

We all know how difficult a decision would be for the management of the refining and petrochemical plants when inspection engineers will need to do critical inspection when the integrity of the plant is in doubt. In chemical industry such as production of highly combustible gases and gases that self-ignite upon loss of containment, this is very dangerous.

A Mexican company has come up with a prototype of RoboPipe, a robot that could do the inspection of

PETRONAS Criticized for Overpaying Canadian Progress Energy Shale Gas

Malaysian state-oil company, PETRONAS has been criticized by the Malaysian opposition party for purchasing the stakes in Progress Energy at almost double the market price.

Rafizi Ramli, the opposition party strategic director has questioned the move made by PETRONAS started in 2012 for the takeover of Progress Energy in Canada. The multi-billion dollar takeover ensures that PETRONAS secures the rights for shale gas in Canada. The shale gas hyped has driven the natural gas in United States and Canada to shoot up recently but price has since stabilized. The deals was likely made on the basis of high natural gas price and a for a significant premium above the share price. PETRONAS has previously indicated that the premium was necessary to counter a bid from another company for Progress Energy.

Korea Gas Corp eying shale-gas assets

Korea Gas (Kogas) is to invest $3Billion in Australia LNG Projects comprising an estimated $1 billion in Royal Dutch Shell's Prelude LNG project and at least $2 billion in the Gladstone LNG project.

Each project is expected to provide the company with around 3.5 million tons of LNG annually.

Kogas is also looking at the U.S. shale gas assets. Kogas is planning a new Houston office.

New US$40 Million Gasco Plant Awarded to Siemens in Abu Dhabi

A US$40 Million Contract for Gasco plant in Abu Dhabi was awarded to Siemens Energy to engineer and supply an integrated power solution for natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation plant. The plant which will be set-up by Abu Dhabi Gas Industries (GASCO).

Uruguay Setting Up First LNG Terminal

Uruguay is setting up its very first new LNG receiving terminal to be built in Montevideo, in the region of Río de la Plata, Uruguay. The construction was awarded to Foster Wheeler by Uruguay’s state-owned oil company, Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland (ANCAP).

The LNG Terminal is in conjunction of the 2007 Uruguay and Argentina Energy Cooperation Agreement for the construction of a regasification plant in Uruguay. The gas plant will fuel natural gas supply for Uruguay and Argentina local consumption using Cruz del Sur Gas Pipeline, the existing natural gas infrastructure between both countries.

Singapore Building Facility for LNG Import from Qatar

Singapore is building new import facility for liquified natural gas on Jurong Island which will receive LNG from Qatar in the country's plans to diversify its gas supply. The facility costs $1.5 billion is due to be completed in 2013 to store more than six million tonnes per annum.

Singapore currently depends on the piped LNG from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Singapore's Prime Minister is replying in response to Indonesian announcement of increasing the supply price.

The partnership with Qatar, the world's biggest natural gas producer is expected after Qatar Petroleum International bought into Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore last November.

Timor-Leste Inviting Petronas to Develop Oil Field

Timor-Leste's government will invite Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) instead of Australian energy firm Woodside Petroleum and partners for the development of offshore Greater Sunrise gas field. The decision is expected due to Woodside's earlier plan for development of Greater Sunrise gas filed without an onshore plant for gas liquefaction.

The Timor-Lester ministry has advised that in order to benefit the country and the people by having a pipeline to East Timor instead of going to straight to other areas such as Darwin.

The decision is also believed due to good relations between Timor-Lester and Petronas and its previous experience in the oil sector and LNG plant.

Floating USD20 Billion of Oil & Gas Assets

Derrick Petroleum Services in their comprehensive study of the Top 1000 global oil and gas companies has identified that as much as $20 billion of oil and gas assets excess currently for sale worldwide. The whole assets are currently floating through 69 separately announced transactions.

Derrick estimation only takes into account deals with value greater than $10 million with North America leading the inventory with over $9 billion followed by Africa (22%), Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and Middle East.

Some of these assets could worth more due to their potential in future discoveries such as Devon Energy's offer for its four discoveries (Kaskida, Cascade, Jack and St. Malo) in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

It is interesting to note that most of the potential buyers are Middle Eastern and National Oil Companies compared to the usual Western investors and public listed companies.

Petronas to Produce 5 Billion cm of Gas in Turkmenistan

The Turkmenistan government had announced that Malaysian state oil firm Petronas could produce up to 5 billion cubic metres of gas annually in the Turkmen portion of the Caspian Sea with opportunity to double up the capacity in the near future.

Petronas had invested about $2 billion in the Caspian shelf project since 1996 and is likely to be the sourced for the planned Nabucco project. The Nabucco project will be responsible to ship gas volumes of Central Asian gas to Europe.

Italy Triton LNG Terminal Postponed

GDF Suez has postponed the start-up of its Triton LNG terminal in Italy from 2012 to 2013. However, the date is yet to be confirmed as the company has not taken the final investment decision. The comissioning date of 2013 may be due to lengthy process of protocols with the local and national authorities of the LNG terminal. Italy is venturing into many LNG projects as Qatar had earlier agreed to lower prices of LNG over the long run. The agreement was much influenced by the European countries as a whole.

China & Myanmar Signing New Oil & Gas Pipeline Contract

A cross boarder oil and gas pipelines to enable oil and other oil-derivatives to China is already in plan as China and Myanmar signed a pipeline contract between China and Myanmar to slash the transfer time for crude oil imports.

The agreement reportedly consists of pipeline project as well as join-venture for hydropower projects. China and Myanmar plan to build 2,000-km gas and oil pipeline through Ruili and Kunming in Yunnan province which can tremendously cut out oil cargos long detour through the congested Malacca Strait.

The project is however under strict control due to Myanmar's history with human rights which means less injection of capital from external sources. As the project benefits China in great length, Beijing is offering incentives including cheap loans and tax breaks to attract foreign participation.

Sonagas Partnering with Eon Ruhrgas

Sonagas, Equatorial Guinea's state gas company is in negotiations to partner with Eon Ruhrgas, the German utility for a second LNG export facility in Equatorial Guinea project creating a West African gas hub. It is likely that a consortium will be set-up comprising of Sonagas, Eon, Union Fenosa of Spain and Portugal's Galp Energia.

Taking advantage of West Africa as a potential route to Europe and amidst instability dependence on Russia gas, the project is expected to get a strong push factor. It is likely that the source gas will be  from gas currently flared as waste by ExxonMobil at the Zafiro deepwater oilfield. 

The consortium is however exposed to a major risk as Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa's most volatile country due to local uprising.

Huge offshore oil discoveries have boosted Equatorial Guinea's oil production from almost nothing a decade ago to about 380,000 b/d, ranking it behind only Nigeria and Angola among sub-Saharan African producers.

Fierce Competition in Australia's LNG Business

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has been reportedly joined the bandwagon as the latest big prospector in Australia's coal seam gas rush. This comes after news that Shell is planning to build a multibillion dollar gas export facility at Gladstone in Queensland state.

It has been a competition of media coverage alongside with BG, ConocoPhillips and Malaysia's Petronas planning to team up with local companies to convert Australia's rich CSG reserves to liquefied natural gas for export.

As to date, five LNG plants are planned to be constructed. Heavy participations comes from all corners including Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd, a smaller scale company compared to the oil giants.

Shell has already signed an exclusive right to investigate a site on Curtis Island near Gladstone for a possible LNG plant with Gladstone Port Corp and has already commenced a feasibility study.

Analysts are not ruling out that there perhaps will be hitting back at Shell by making an even higher bid for Pure Energy from BG.

Shanghai, China is Booming with LNG Demand

China, one of the world's biggest demand for energy, is going to be the next LNG vacuum with demand increase up to 3 billion cubic metres last year. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC); is due to commission a terminal to receive liquefied natural gas in Shanghai in early February 2009 from Malaysia LNG Tiga. This first ever cargo is said to be about 20,000 cubic metres of gas before commercial operation in April.

CNOOC's Shanghai terminal will receive 1.1 million tonnes per annum from Petronas LNG complex in Malaysia with incremental volume up to 3 million tpa in 2012. Shanghai is now looking at ways to increase its emergency gas reserves as demand is shooting up.

US Marathon Oil to Sell its Irish Asset to PETRONAS

The US' Marathon Oil has agreed to sell most of its Irish assets to PETRONAS for $180 million.also include a 100% interest in the company's gas storage business with current capacity of 7 billion cubic feet.  

This acquisition includes a 86% stake in the producing Seven Heads gas fieldand a 100% operated interest in the Kinsale Head Area comprising Kinsale Head, South West Kinsale and the Ballycotton gas fields, as well as an 86% interest in the gas producing Seven Heads field which is tied back to Kinsale. All the gas fields at Kinsale area are estimated for current net production of 36 million cf/day. 

Petronas subsidiary Star Energy was appointed for Petronas behalf responsible for the acquisition. 

New Gas Fields Found in Mozambique

Two new natural gas fields were found in the southern Inhambane province of Mozambique. The gas field discovery is foreseen for domestic demand for natural gas as suggested by Mineral Resources Minister Esperanca Bias of Mozambique including for electricity generartion, fertiliser factory and fuel for vehicles.

Under Mozambican law, any consortium that has discovered gas reserves has six months to assess its findings and present a report to the government. In this case, the player will be South Africa's Sasol , Malaysia's Petronas and the Mozambican government. Sasol, the world's biggest maker of diesel from coal, owns 50 percent of the project, Petronas owns 35 percent, while the government of Mozambique holds 15 percent through national oil company Empresa Nacional De Hidrocarbonetos De Mozambique (ENH). 

Malaysia to Build Petrochemical Plants in Sabah

Malaysia is expected to build a petrochemical plant in Sabah, despite global economic downturn after heavy pressure from the local political scene. The Malaysian government has instructed the complex after Petronas, its national oil company to construct the RM3billion gas pipeline from Sabah to Sarawak.

Early indication is expecting a full-fledged petrochemical industry setup.

BG and PETRONAS Agreed on Open Market for Dragon

BG and Petronas who both share and hold the capacity rights at Dragon LNG are expected to operate the terminal on an open-market basis allowing demand to dictate imports into the terminal. The Dragon LNG joint-development partnership comprises of 50% BG Group and Petronas with 30% and Dutch terminal developer 4Gas with 20%. Dragon LNG is built on a former refinery site taking advantage of two storage tanks and one jetty with capacity to handle 6.8 mtpa of LNG. 

Petronas - Australia Gladstone LNG Ink MoU

The Directors of Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd inked down a Technology Memorandum of Understanding with SK Engineering and Construction (SKEC) for the framework for SKEC and the Company to establish a technology joint venture. The JV is 50% each for between LNG (which is partly-owned by Malaysian O&G PETRONAS) and another 50% for SKEC.

The agreement focuses on:

• Completion of the final design of the OSMRTM process technology for inclusion in the Gladstone LNG Project front end engineering and design (FEED) package
• OSMRTM process technology license to the Gladstone LNG Project process guarantee.
• Colloboration for commercialisation of the OSMRTM process technology including development, marketing and LNG related processes.

PETRONAS Found Gas in Pakistan

Despite the regional political instability, PETRONAS Carigali Pakistan Ltd (PCPL), a unit of Petroliam Nasional Sdn. Bhd. (PETRONAS) existence in Pakistan progressed. PETRONAS Carigali had reportedly made a second gas discovery in Mubarak Block, located in Sindh Province, Pakistan.