The oil and gas industry has welcomed the release of the National Resources Statement, the first since February 1998. The vital contribution the resources sector makes to Australia, particularly in the regional areas that host development, is highlighted in the Statement. APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts congratulated Minister for Resources Matt Canavan for taking the initiative to develop this statement and encourage a bi‑partisan and long‑term policy approach for Australia’s important resources sector.
Industry
Maiden gas reserves for Po Valley’s Selva field
Australia’s Po Valley Energy Limited has announced maiden gas reserves for its majority-owned onshore Selva Malvezzi field, northeast of Bologna in northern Italy. The maiden gross 2P reserves for Selva of 13.3 were prepared by CGG, from previously reported gross contingent resources (“2C”) but also includes results from new drilling on the field early last year (Podere Maiar 1 well). The milestone estimate announced delivers 8.38 bcf of net 2P reserves attributable to Po Valley and represents the company’s first reserves for this gas field.
AGIG welcomes NT Government announcement on new $170m pipeline
Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) has welcomed the Northern Territory Government’s decision to grant conditional consent to commission and operate the new $170 million Tanami pipeline infrastructure. The recent announcement by NT Minister for Primary Industry and Resources, Paul Kirby, said construction of the Tanami Gas Pipeline was complete and AGIG could now test the pipeline by introducing gas at the pressure under which it will operate. The Minister said once testing is successfully completed and independently verified, the pipeline will be able to go into full operational mode.
Australia leads FPSO deployments in Oceania by 2025
Australia will account for all floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) planned for deployment in Oceania during 2019–2025, according to GlobalData. The data and analytic company’s report reveals that 67 planned and announced FPSOs are expected to start operations globally between 2019 and 2025. Of these, 26 are planned and 41 are announced. In Oceania, all the five upcoming FPSOs – Barossa, Browse 1, Browse 2, Buffalo (Re-Development), and Crux – are announced FPSOs. Woodside Browse Ltd. leads among operators with two upcoming FPSOs, which are expected to commence operations during the outlook period.
AGIG Pluto facility taps into more gas for WA
The Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) has announced the successful commissioning of the Pluto Inlet Station – the new facility connecting the Pluto LNG Project to the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP). The successful commissioning allows additional gas supply to reach Western Australian consumers. Woodside – which operates the Pluto LNG plant near Karratha in WA – engaged AGIG’s development group to undertake a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study to convert an existing outlet meter station to an inlet facility, along with the required compression.
APPEA says gas industry to play key role in hydrogen future
APPEA has welcomed the release of the Australian Labor Party’s National Hydrogen Plan. “There is tremendous interest in hydrogen as a new, cleaner fuel. Labor’s promise to direct $1 billion into funding of hydrogen research and commercial development would spur investment into this emerging technology,” said APPEA Chief Executive Malcolm Roberts. The Hydrogen Strategy Group, chaired by the Chief Scientist, Professor Alan Finkel AO, has highlighted the opportunity for Australia to export liquified hydrogen alongside liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet the growing demand for cleaner energy across the Asia-Pacific.
Woodside announces Scarborough contracts
Woodside has awarded four contracts for front-end engineering design activities for the proposed Scarborough project located offshore Australia. The Perth-headquartered company said the contracts were for engineering activities related to the upstream development’s floating production unit, the export trunkline, and the subsea umbilical risers and flowlines. Woodside said each contract includes an option to progress to execute phase activities, which is subject to, among other conditions, a positive final investment decision (FID) being taken on the project by the Scarborough Joint Venture.
China to account for 44% of Asia’s crude oil refining capacity in 2023
China will drive the majority of growth in the crude oil refining industry in Asia between 2018 and 2023, contributing 44% of Asia’s crude oil refining capacity within five years. That was the conclusion drawn by data and analytics company, GlobalData, in its company report entitled: 'China Crude Oil Refinery Outlook to 2023'. The report reveals that the total refining capacity of China in 2018 was 15,994 thousand barrels per day (mbd), which was 46% of Asia's total refining capacity in 2018. The country’s total refining capacity is forecast to increase at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 4.
Australian LNG hit new highs in 2018
Australian LNG exports reached 69.5 Mt in 2018, up 23.0% from 56.5 Mt in 2017, EnergyQuest has revealed in its latest LNG report. The energy advisory firm said the start-up of the Ichthys project during 2018 and continued good performance of Wheatstone, which started production from Train 2 during 2018, has made a major contribution to the growth in Australian exports. The long-awaited Prelude project also began production in late December with the first cargoes expected in early 2019. The report further revealed that: Notwithstanding media headlines about “record” Queensland LNG exports, east coast exports only grew by 0.3 Mt.
Alaska Gasline Development Corp tops capex charts in North America
Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC) is the top spender among all oil and gas companies in North America, in terms of new build capital expenditure (capex) to be spent during 2018–2025, on planned and announced projects across midstream and downstream segments (including petrochemicals). This was revealed in a report by data and analytics company GlobalData which confirmed that AGDC tops the list with capex of US$37.3bn, followed by Canada Stewart Energy and NextDecade Corp with capex of US$30.3bn and US$28.4bn, respectively.