Presently, China’s hydrogen plants are primarily located in the northwest, northeast, and midwest regions, where abundant solar and wind resources are available, and the refining and chemical industries are concentrated. However, to meet the demand in the eastern and southern areas, there is a need to transport hydrogen, whether it is grey or green, to these markets.

China plans to establish a nationwide hydrogen pipeline grid by 2050, spanning 6,000 kilometers and connecting regions such as Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, and Heilongjiang. This network will provide offering accessibility to hydrogen asset owners and traders as a national hydrogen pipeline network.

Sinopec, one of the major energy companies in China, will construct a pipeline dedicated to transporting green hydrogen from Inner Mongolia to Beijing. This West-East hydrogen pipeline will span 400 kilometers, passing through nine counties and cities across three provinces. The project entails implementing a wind energy-based electrolysis system for hydrogen production,  building an onshore wind farm, and establishing an export pipeline. In the initial phase, the pipeline will have a throughput capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum, which can be expanded to 500,000 tonnes per annum in the future.

In March, PetroChina began the construction of China’s first pipeline dedicated to transporting green hydrogen. This pipeline, stretching six kilometers, will transport green hydrogen produced at the Yumen oilfield in Gansu province. The hydrogen will originate from a power-to-liquids demonstration project that utilizes a PV-electrolysis system to convert solar energy from a 160-megawatt photovoltaic station into hydrogen. Once completed in early next year, the project will have an annual production capacity of 7,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and generate 278-kilowatt hours of electricity per year, contributing to a reduction of 220,000 tonnes per annum in carbon dioxide emissions.

Currently, China has only three hydrogen pipelines, all spanning less than 100 kilometers. In contrast, globally, the majority of the 5,000-kilometre hydrogen pipeline network is controlled by Air Products, Air Liquide, and Linde.

The post A Dedicated Pipeline By China For Green Hydrogen Transport appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

One of the recommendations is the blending of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) with compressed biogas made from urban waste. This initiative promotes the use of renewable energy sources and helps in reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Additionally, the report suggests using Methanol and Ethanol as cooking fuels and emphasizes the need to popularize these options by introducing user-friendly products. This move would further contribute to reducing carbon emissions in the cooking sector.

To further promote clean cooking practices, the committee proposes the widespread use of electric or solar-based cooking systems. Their target is to have 25% of households using electricity for cooking purposes by 2030. The report also emphasizes the importance of incentivizing the usage of green hydrogen for future projects. Green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy sources, has the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions and contribute to a greener energy sector.

The report also addresses the need for reducing carbon emissions in the surface transport sector. It highlights the importance of standardizing electric two-wheelers to facilitate the development of charging infrastructure and promote battery swapping. Additionally, the committee recommends phasing out diesel-driven four-wheelers in highly polluted areas and major cities by 2027. In the long term, a complete ban on internal combustion engine two or three-wheel vehicles is proposed by 2035. During this transition period, the report stresses the significance of providing policy support for ethanol-blended fuel, gradually increasing the blend ratio to reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector.

The committee also highlights the need for a transition towards clean fuel urban public transport. They propose prohibiting the addition of diesel city buses in urban areas, aiming to achieve a fully clean and sustainable public transportation system within approximately ten years. The report stresses the importance of providing the necessary support and creating an ecosystem for electric vehicle (EV)-based mobility through policy and financial measures.

The railway sector is also addressed in the report, which recommends increasing the share of cargo transported by railways from the current 23% to over 50%. By promoting rail transport for cargo, India can significantly reduce carbon emissions associated with road transportation and enhance the efficiency of freight logistics.

The report highlights India’s commitment to global climate goals as well. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, pledged to achieve five ambitious goals known as the “Panchamrit” pledge. The same includes hiiting 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, generating half of all energy requirements from renewable sources, reducing emissions by 1 billion tons by 2030, reducing emissions intensity of GDP by 45%, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. These commitments demonstrate India’s determination to play an active role in combating climate change and transitioning to a sustainable energy future.

The report acknowledges the global recognition of the adverse impacts of single-use plastic on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including marine environments. It highlights the importance of addressing pollution caused by single-use plastic items, which has become a significant environmental challenge worldwide.

India has also been advocating for climate finance for developing countries, highlighting the comparatively low per capita emissions in these nations. The country seeks to ensure that carbon mitigation efforts receive adequate financial support and is engaging in discussions related to climate finance, including its definition and implementation.

The post Blending LPG And Biogas: A Cleaner Energy Solution For India appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

As per a statement from the energy ministry of Kazakhstan, the offered asset list includes 11 existing fields as well as 45 prospective acreages in which more efforts will have to be put up so as to pinpoint hydrocarbon reserves that are commercially viable. The identified fields happen to be small assets that are located primarily in the country’s two oil provinces of Atyrau and Mangistau. They are expected to raise interest in privately owned domestic setups that are already operational in those areas.

Before, online auctions used to attract only investors based out of Kazakhstan; however, the Chinese operators who are already based in the country have gone on to show immense interest. With this new development, the ministry also looks out to see if large foreign companies are actually willing to be a part of this long-term investment when it comes to the exploration drive before any commercial discoveries are made.

Notably, the acreage on offer has in it seven large blocks that exist from 1800 to 5500 square kilometres across the Ustyurt Plateau, which is a desert that spans southwest Uzbekistan and southeast Kazakhstan.

Apparently, six of the Ustyurt blocks were already on offer in March last year; however, they failed to draw any foreign commitments after Russia’s war in Ukraine led to a spike in the risk profile of Kazakhstan.

Almost 90% of Kazakh oil exports transit via Russia; however, the country has now announced a commitment to go ahead with varied export routes. The Ustyurt Plateau consists of the Aral Sea, which has almost dried up in the last 50 years. This area is thought to have deposits of commercial hydrocarbon resources. As per the ministry, the two areas, Aral North and Aral South, totaling 9600 square kilometres, are up for grabs.

Apart from the Ustyurt and Aral areas, the authorities are also hoping to auction numerous other big, unexplored blocks located in the Aktyubinsk and Atyrau regions that happen to be near the present oil fields.

All that investors have to do is fill out an application in order to participate in the online auction. These applications can be filed through Gosreesrt, the state auction operator; however, there aren’t any deadlines shared by the ministry as of yet.

Once the received applications are reviewed by the authorities, an auction date shall be announced, and thereafter more information on blocks along with exploration commitments will be shared.

This information, upon receiving it, shall help the investors decide whether they would like to go ahead with the auction participation, and if they agree, a non-refundable deposit will have to be made.

The post Kazakhstan Offers Above 50 Oil & Gas Fields For Exploration appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The group, whose members are in control of $11 trillion in assets, opined that the requirements happen to be very stringent and also reflect a scientific consensus that is looking to transition the worldwide economy away from fossil fuels.

The requirements are part of a position paper that lays out expectations for companies, members, and investors, as well as for policymakers, from stewardship to pricing of carbon, and also provides a roadmap for the world economy to disassociate from oil and gas.

The alliance is also planning to call on companies across the oil and gas sector as well as those who use fuels to set themselves science-based objectives so as to lessen their carbon emissions and also execute plans when it comes to transition as countries of the world push to stall global warming to a limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius over and above the pre-industrial levels.

These objectives should not only take into account the company’s direct emissions, like diesel generators on an offshore platform, but also the ones that are related to using its own energy and those concerned with its customers’ usage of its products.

In spite of that, the climate-driven non-profit organisations of the likes of Reclaim Finance, Global Optimism, as well as WWF, stated that the guidelines weren’t ambitious enough. According to Christiana Figueres, the founding partner of Global Optimism as well as a strategic advisor to the alliance, the position should have gone further in setting company expectations that are as clear as the expectations for investors, which is no new investment in oil and gas fields as well as other infrastructure that happens to be carbon-intensive.

Reclaim Finance happens to be of an opinion that there is no room for new oil and gas field investments when there is a 1.5-degree scenario and has called the entire proposal a giant leap backward.

As of now, the world’s major oil and gas companies have set themselves varying targets in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and make use of the products that they are selling.

As per Patrick Peura from Allianz Investment Management as well as a co-lead of the alliance engagement track, the white paper is not placing the blame on just one stakeholder but taking into account the entire ecosystem as other actors that need to be moving in line with the order so as to raise the ambition and also get going on the 1.5-degree Celsius track.

The post Alliance Takes Tough Stand On New Upstream Oil-Gas Projects appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The European union has gone on to pledge so as to cut itself off from the fossil fuels by Russia by 2027 in response to what has taken place in Ukraine. Many member states are already fast-tracking plans to get alternative gas sources from countries like Qatar and the US.

There are several nations, such as Germany, Greece, Italy, France, and the Netherlands, that have announced fresh LNG projects or even expansions of the existing ones to tackle the Russian gas pipeline shutdown.

The haste to cover the energy needs of the future puts Europe at risk when it comes to wasting huge sums of money, as per the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis- IEEFA. IEEFA, which happens to be a Europe-based think tank, opines in a report that got published last Wednesday, March 22 that the new LNG appetite of Europe can massively overshadow the demand in the years to come.

The terminal capacity of Europe is all set to surpass 400 billion cubic metres by 2030, according to the IEEFA, which cited the present infrastructure buildout plans. This is a surge from the 270 bcm that was seen at the end of the last year. UK, Norway, and Turkey were included in the IEEFA analysis.

In contrast, the LNG demand throughout Europe is forecast to lie between 150 bcm as per the IEEFA and 190 bcm as per S&P Global Commodity Insights.

IEEFA stated that the mismatch that can be seen between future energy demand in Europe and import facilities can go on to result in 200 bcm of unused capacity by the end of the decade, which is equivalent to almost half of the European Union’s total demand for gas in 2021.

According to IEEFA Europe’s energy analyst and also the author of this analysis, Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, this happens to be the world’s most expensive and least worthwhile insurance policy. She adds that the region must fully balance its LNG systems and gas to avoid falling from reliability to redundancy.

The boosting of Europe’s infrastructure may not essentially increase reliability; however, there is a tangible risk of assets getting stranded. Apparently, the highest risk when it comes to stranded assets was witnessed across Spain at 50 bcm, Turkey at 44 bcm, and the UK at 40 bcm. Although IEEFA expects a 36% utilisation rate when it comes to Europe’s LNG terminals by 2030.

The EU energy policy chief at the start of March this year, the EU energy chief called upon all the EU nations as well as firms to refrain from inking new contracts as far as buying Russian LNG was concerned so as to deplete the dependence of energy on the Kremlin.

Kadri Simon, the EU energy commissioner, said that he encouraged all the members to stop going for any fresh deals once the existing contract term expires.

It is well to be noted that EU’s big LNG capacity has gone on to spark environmental challenges, with research from the Global Energy Monitor in 2022 warning that plans to double EU’s energy import terminal capabilities threaten to thwart the climate goals while at the same time doing nothing to address energy issues. The GEM analysis noted that most of the LNG contracts were going to begin in 2026 for a tenure of 15 to 20 years.

The post Quest For LNG By Europe May Not Be All That Flourishing appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

As a matter of fact, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offered 73.4 million acres of the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) across the gulf region. The best part was that the bids were streamed live via an event on March 29 morning.

This auction goes on to fulfil a provision of the climate change law, the inflation reduction act (IRA) rolled out by President Joe Biden in 2022 that secures federal oil and gas leasing, and would have wanted that the Gulf sale be held by March 31, which did happen.

It is well to note that the auction happened to be the first in the oil-rich region since 2021. The high-bid total went on to be the largest since 2017 sales that took place in the Central Gulf area, which went on to garner $274.8 million.

Significantly, it was Chevron that was among the highest spenders in the auction that took place on March 29, with numerous bids for deepwater tracts worth millions of dollars. Overall, the company made a bid of $15.9 million across the tract of the Keathley Canyon region.

On the other hand, Exxon snapped up over 60 shallow water blocks that were near the Texas coastline. As per the analysts, the company might as well be preparing for a project based on carbon capture and storage.

On March 29, Exxon confirmed that they are analysing the seismic data as well as the subsurface geology for any commercial potential that may be a possibility in the future. Shell Plc, Hess Corp, Equinor ASA, and BP Plc were the other winners of the bid.

Before the passage of the IRA in 2022, the administration had gone on to cancel three planned offshore lease bids across the Gulf as well as Alaska because of a lack of interest from the industry and also because of conflicting litigation that took place on the president’s leasing policy.

These leases happen to be for a term of 5 to 10 years, depending on the depth of the water, and also have royalty rates of 18.75%, which are, by the way, the maximum as established by the IRA. The rate happens to be an increase for shallow water leases, which, as per the recently concluded sales, were offered with a royalty of 12.5%. The IRA raised the minimum rate of royalty when it came to offshore leases to 16.67%.

President Biden, apparently, had pledged to end new leasing all throughout his presidential campaign as part of his objective to make sure that the US economy decarbonizes by 2050 and also thwart global warming. But he has been consistently witnessing pressure to elevate the domestic supplies of oil and gas, to take care of the price spikes, and to boost energy security too.

Significantly, the Gulf of Mexico accounts for 15% of the total US oil production and also 1% of the natural gas production as per US BOEM. The production across the region is anticipated to keep growing all the way through 2027, as per a 2022 BOEM prediction that has assumed that the leasing will keep taking place.

The post Gulf of Mexico Drilling Rights Bids Fetch $263.8 mln To US appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

This positive result follows the Plan of Development (POD) approval from the Government of Equatorial Guinea. First oil is expected in 2026.

The joint venturers expect to spud the first development well in early 2024, acquire, convert, and install oil production infrastructure over the next 3 years, and spud an additional development and a water injection well in 2025-26. Venus field activities are expected to add 23.1 MMbbl of oil of 2P gross reserves.

Based on results from the initial oil discovery well and reservoir modeling, the partners expect oil production from the field to reach about 15,000 gross b/d of oil upon completion of the two development wells and injector well.

“We are pleased that the development of the Venus discovery can now swiftly proceed, thanks to the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons being a true enabler of investment in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Vaalco’s sound technical expertise to develop and monetize the asset, as well as GEPetrol’s crucial role as stewards of the Equatoguinean hydrocarbons sector” said Prince Arthur Eze, Executive Chairman of Atlas Petroleum.

The post Atlas Petroleum, partners advance Venus oil discovery offshore Equatorial Guinea appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

Sempra Infrastructure closed its joint venture with an affiliate of ConocoPhillips, as well as announced an agreement to sell an indirect, non-controlling interest in the project to an infrastructure fund managed by KKR.

Sempra launches Port Arthur LNG project

The Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project is fully permitted and is designed to include two natural gas liquefaction trains, two liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks and associated facilities with a nameplate capacity of approximately 13 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). Total capital expenditures for the Port Arthur Phase 1 project are estimated at $13 billion.

The long-term contractable capacity of approximately 10.5 Mtpa is fully subscribed under binding long-term agreements with strong counterparties —ConocoPhillips, RWE Supply and Trading, PKN ORLEN S.A., INEOS and ENGIE S.A., all of which became effective upon reaching FID. Sempra Infrastructure is also actively marketing and developing the competitively positioned Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project, which is expected to have similar offtake capacity to Phase 1.

“Sempra’s selection of Port Arthur as the location for a new natural gas liquefication and export terminal is a strategic decision that will cement Texas’ position as the energy capital of the world,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. “With a highly skilled workforce and business-friendly climate, and as a national leader in LNG exports, Texas is the prime location to expand LNG operations to unleash the United States’ full economic potential in such a critical industry.”

Sempra partners with industry leaders for Port Arthur LNG

Sempra and ConocoPhillips closed their joint venture whereby an affiliate of ConocoPhillips has acquired a 30% non-controlling interest in the project, is purchasing 5 Mtpa of LNG offtake from the project under a 20-year sale and purchase agreement and is managing the project’s overall natural gas supply requirements. ConocoPhillips will also have certain rights to participate in future expansion projects in both equity and offtake.

“Our strategic LNG partnership with Sempra will help supply growing global demand for natural gas, a lower greenhouse gas emissions-intensity fuel expected to play a critical role in the energy transition and global energy mix going forward,” said Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Sempra Infrastructure announced an agreement whereby KKR will acquire a 25% to 49% indirect, non-controlling interest in the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project. Pursuant to the agreement with KKR, Sempra Infrastructure will retain certain economic and other rights with respect to the interest being transferred while granting KKR certain minority interest protections. KKR is making the investment primarily through its Global Infrastructure Investors IV fund.

“Phase 1 will create new jobs, support American economic growth and deliver reliable and cleaner energy during the global energy transition. Consistent with KKR Infrastructure’s strategy of seeking stable and predictable returns for investors, our investment in Phase 1 is backed by robust cash flows through long-term contracts with high-quality counterparties,” said James Cunningham, Partner at KKR.

Sempra Infrastructure is targeting 20% to 30% of indirect ownership interest in the project, subject to the closing of the KKR sale. For illustrative purposes, if Sempra Infrastructure’s indirect ownership interest is at the midpoint of the referenced range, or 25%, Sempra Infrastructure would expect its share of average adjusted EBITDA after full commercial operations to be approximately $410 million annually and its equity commitment to be approximately $1.55 billion.

Sempra’s share of the above estimates would be equal to 70% of these amounts. The foregoing estimates exclude other potentially significant economic benefits associated with, among other items, the development of future phases and further optimization of the project.

Sempra Infrastructure has contracted with global engineering, construction and project management firm Bechtel Energy Inc. and has issued a final notice to proceed for the project. The expected commercial operation dates for Train 1 and Train 2 are 2027 and 2028, respectively.

“Building from mature, scalable energy technologies helps safeguard our energy supplies and promote the transition to lower-carbon energy,” said Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and CEO of Bechtel. “Bechtel has a record of delivering LNG infrastructure on the U.S. Gulf Coast and bringing quality jobs and training opportunities to local communities. The 5,000 construction jobs this project creates will provide outstanding opportunities for craft professionals — growing a skilled workforce that will benefit the region for years to come.”

Port Arthur LNG to create 5,000 jobs, invest millions into Jefferson County

Since 2015, Port Arthur LNG has invested more than $40 million to support Jefferson County communities, including working with local vendors to procure materials and services for the relocation of a 3.5-mile portion of Highway 87 and on grants to more than 60 local non-profits, schools and business development groups.

The Phase 1 project is another significant opportunity to expand Sempra Infrastructure’s economic impact. The project is expected to create an estimated 5,000 highly skilled jobs during construction and boost the economies in Port Arthur and Jefferson County.

“Sempra has long been an economic driver for Jefferson County here in Southeast Texas, and this new Port Arthur LNG facility will continue that trend by bringing thousands of jobs, new markets for natural gas and more energy security for our nation,” Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan said.

The post Sempra, ConocoPhillips partner to launch Port Arthur LNG Project in South Texas appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

The resulting gas can be used for fuel cells or as a blend-in fuel for combustion engines or gas-fired boilers. The process can reduce overall carbon emissions by up to 100 percent depending on the heating method, according to its developer.

The TCD process significantly reduces CO2 emissions, particulate matter and methane slip by producing hydrogen while capturing carbon in its solid form. The technology has been described as a first-of-its-kind.

Rotoboost’s solution is scalable to meet future emission regulations, with lower electrical power requirements compared to conventional carbon capture systems and less storage space needed for solid carbon, allowing the system and associated storage to remain compact even for long voyages, LR said.

The system is well suited to LNG carriers and other LNG-fuelled vessels, offering an additional option for shipowners for decarbonising.

The AiP validates Rotoboost’s CCS system as compliant with LR’s goal-based and comprehensive prescriptive requirements, marking a further milestone in the development of carbon capture technology.

The verification comes on the back of the technology qualification designation Rotoboost secured from the ABS classification society back in November 2022.

The post LR green lights Rotoboost’s pre-combustion carbon capture system appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.

It is well to be noted that OPEC+, which also comprises Russia and allies, agreed back in October 2022 to slash oil production targets by a whopping 2 million barrels a day until 2023’s end. He reaffirmed that the agreement would continue to be in effect for at least another year.

Last week ending February 18^th saw OPEC raising the 2023 global oil demand forecast as the Chinese relaxed the COVID restrictions, but Prince Abdulaziz remarked that more assurance was the need of the hour.

He added that no matter what the trends show, if a cautious approach is paid heed to, there will not only be a positive trend which emerges, but also one has to make sure that these positive signs are sustainable for longer periods.

It was unclear, according to him, how long will it take for the global fiscal and monetary tightening to continue. There is still no clarity on how much amount of inflation might occur and how are the central bankers going to react towards it, given their standard.

The prince has also gone on to blame the IEA as well as its initial predictions of 3 million barrels a day of Russian production falling when it came to the US strategic petroleum reserves last year.

According to him, IEA was to be blamed for it for the scaring and the screaming they had done on how much Russia is going to lose when one talks of production.

The post OPEC+ Deal Expected To Last Till The Year End- Saudi Arabia appeared first on Oil&Gas Advancement.