GLOBAL GAS AND LNG BRIEFS

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)

PIPELINE TRANSMISSION

Pipeline Planned Between Turkey and Azerbaijan

Turkey's state-owned oil and gas pipeline company, Botas, and Azerbaijan's state oil company, Socar, have signed a protocol of intent to construct a gas pipeline between Turkey's Igdir province to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in Azerbaijan. A working group will develop technical details of the project. This is an example of increasing cooperation between the two countries, with energy being one of the priorities.

PRODUCTION

Statoil Awards Foster Wheeler FEED contract for LPG Plant

Norway's Statoilhydro ASA (NYSE:STO) (Statoil) (Stavanger,Norway), on behalf of Gassco AS as operator for the Gassled joint venture, has entered into a framework agreement with Foster Wheeler's (NASDAQ:FWLT) (Geneva, Switzerland) Global Engineering and Construction Group for front-end engineering and design (FEED) services to support the Karsto oil- and gas-processing plant in Norway. The agreement will be valid through 2013. The plant ranks as the third-largest liquid petroleum gas (LPG) export facility in the world, and Statoil is modifying the processing plant with the Karsto Life Extension project to enable it to process new light oil and condensate production being brought online in the Norwegian North Sea. The agreement covers a number of FEED projects, and Foster Wheeler is the first to enable the processing of light oil from the new Gudrun Field.

Japan Plans Small-Scale LNG Plants

Japan's Hitachi Limited (NYSE:HIT) and Toyo Engineering Corporation (TYO:TYOQF) are targeting a niche market that could supply a significant percentage of Asia's future natural gas consumption with small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants. The companies say that their technology is suitable for the development of gas fields with reserves of between 500 million and 5 billion cubic feet of gas. There are reportedly more than 1,300 gas fields of this size worldwide; compare this to Australia's Gorgon field, which contains an estimated 40 trillion cubic feet of gas. Small projects would take about three to five months to build, which is half the time for large terminals, and would use ready-made modules. A pilot plant with a capacity of 1 million tons per year may be built at Newcastle, New South Wales, with first shipments in 2014.

POWER

On-Site Power for Canadian Shale Gas Processing

Wartsila Corporation (OTC:WRTBF) (Helsinki, Finland) has the contract to supply power-generating equipment and associated engineering for the Cabin Gas Plant in British Columbia, Canada. As there is no grid electrical supply in the area, on-site generation is necessary. Wartsila will supply three 20V34SG gas-engine generator sets, running a natural gas producing output of more than 26 MW, with excellent heat rate and lack of process water consumption. These will power a natural gas processing plant, producing pipeline-quality gas from the shale formations in the heart of the Horn River Basin, one of the most prolific shale gas deposits in North America. The power plant will run on natural gas from the plant. Sets and equipment will be delivered in the third quarter of 2011, and the plant will be operational in the second half of 2012.

Siemens to Supply Power Solution to Ruwais Fractionation Plant

Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) has a $40 million project contract in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supply an integrated power solution for a natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation plant for Abu Dhabi Gas Industries (Gasco). The contract was awarded by a joint venture of Petrofac (LSE:PFC) (London, England) and GS E&C on behalf of Gasco, which is responsible for the fractionation of natural and associated gas from onshore operations in Abu Dhabi. Siemens will be the main electrical contractor for Gasco's Ruwais fourth NGL train, which is scheduled to go into operation in March 2012. Siemens will provide power and distribution transformers; high-, medium- and low-voltage switchgears; and motor-control centers. The contract also covers a power-management system; medium- and low-voltage motors; and other equipment. Engineering, installation, commissioning and supervision of the complete electrical equipment also are covered.

LNG TRANSPORT

Largest Global LNG Carrier Delivers Qatargas to Japan

Qatargas delivered its first Q-Max cargo of LNG to Chubu Electric's (OTC:CHUEF) (Tokyo, Japan) Chita Terminal in Japan. The Qatargas Q-Max LNG carriers have the capacity to make a single delivery of 266,000 cubic meters of LNG. As the largest carriers in the world, they are 50% to 80% bigger than conventional LNG carriers, and contain on-board liquefaction systems. They have about 40% lower carbon emissions than conventional carriers. Qatar is set to reach its goal of having 77 million tons of LNG production capacity by the end of 2010 to reinforce its position as the leading global LNG supplier.

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