Meet the CTO: Dr. Gunnar Stiesch, MAN Energy Solutions
As the shipowners stare down decarbonization mandates that grow increasingly strict through 2050, the engine makers are at the tip of the spear of this energy transition phenomena, working to design and build engines and components that are built to operate on a long and growing list of alternative fuels. We recently visited with Dr. Gunnar Stiesch, CTO, MAN Energy Solutions, to take a look inside the research and development process at this global power leader, for insights on ‘what’s next’ in ship propulsion.Dr.
Gunvor Founder Raises Stake, Expands Board
Trading house Gunvor's founder Torbjorn Tornqvist has increased his stake in the firm after a bumper profit year as he bought out some leaving partners and expanded the board to bring in a new generation of managers.The company said Tornqvist, Gunvor's chairman, had raised his stake to 86.9% as of Dec 31, 2020, from 80.01% as of Dec 31, 2019."It is a standard annual fluctuation based on staff turnover," a Gunvor spokesman said. The remaining shares are held by Gunvor employees.Trading houses in 2020 benefited from energy market volatility.
Dunkirk Port Switches on Cold Ironing
French container line CMA CGM announced that its ship APL Singapura has inaugurated the cold ironing facilities of the Terminal des Flandres in the Port of Dunkirk.By plugging into an onshore electricity supply (also known as "cold ironing"), container ships calling at port can shut down their auxiliary engines while still getting the power they need, particularly in order to maintain controlled temperatures in refrigerated containers (Reefers).This innovative technology has significant environmental benefits…
Mammoet Completes ALE Acquisition
The Netherlands-based Mammoet confirmed it has completed its acquisition of UK-based rival ALE, creating the industry’s largest engineered heavy lifting and transport services provider.The businesses will operate as one company under the Mammoet brand with more than 140 offices and branches worldwide, Mammoet said in a press release on Wednesday.An integration plan to be rolled out over the coming months will focus on bringing the two organizations together, Mammoet said. ALE executive board member Michael Birch will join Mammoet's executive management team as chief commercial officer.
Fluxys Sign LNG Contract with Qatar
Qatar Petroleum subsidiary Qatar Terminal Limited (QTL) and Fluxys Belgium subsidiary Fluxys LNG signed a long-term LNG Services Agreement for the Zeebrugge LNG terminal.Under the agreement, QTL subscribes unloading slots at the facility from the expiry of the current long-term unloading contracts and up to 2044.The agreement was signed during a ceremony held in Brussels today by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum…
Austria's OMV, Russia's Gazprom Sign Pact
Austrian integrated oil and gas company OMV and Russian energy giant Gazprom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).The two companies had previously agreed that Gazprom will supply 1.2 billion cubic meters of LNG to OMV in 2020.On this basis, both partners have now agreed to continue the cooperation beyond the year 2020, including the sale and purchase of conventional and small-scale LNG cargo.In addition, both companies intend to explore…
Wintershall Wins Argentina Offshore Bid
Germany's largest crude oil and natural gas producer Wintershall won the bidding process for two blocks in the promising Malvinas Basin off the coast of Tierra del Fuego as part of the “Costa Afuera” licensing round.In addition to the CMA-1 exploitation concession, with this award, the company will participate in further offshore exploration projects in Argentina. The exploration licenses are located approximately 300 km off the southeast coast of Argentina.Wintershall will hold a 27 percent interest in the licenses MLO-114 and MLO-119.
OMV, Sapura Energy Sign Pact
Malaysia’s Sapura Energy has entered into a heads of agreement with Austria’s OMV to form a strategic partnership and acquire half of Sapura Upstream for $1.6 billion."Under the agreements, OMV Exploration and Production GmbH (OMV E&P), a wholly-owned subsidiary of OMV Aktiengesellschaft, will buy a 50 per cent stake of the enlarged issued share capital in a newly-formed joint venture company, SEB Upstream Sdn Bhd (SUP), based on an enterprise value of up to USD1.6 billion comprising an equity value of up to USD1…
Panoro Energy Buys OMV Tunisia
London-based E&P company Panoro Energy said its Norwegian subsidiary Panoro Tunisia Production has reached an agreement with OMV Exploration & Production GmbH to acquire 100 percent of the shares of OMV Tunisia Upstream GmbH.According to the Oslo-listed company, the acquisition is for a cash consideration of $65 million.OMV Tunisia Upstream holds a 49 percent interest in five oil producing concessions in Tunisia with net 2P reserves of 8.1 million barrels, and net production of approximately 2…
TOTE Touts 'LNG-as-Fuel' Experience
Build it and they will come mentality serves TOTE well on ‘world first’ LNG ContainershipsAs the marine industry collectively struggles to find solutions to the mounting mandates to cut emissions, U.S. owner TOTE, which broke ground three years ago with the world’s first LNG-fueled containership, has more than 36 months experience operating almost exclusively on LNG. To date it has been a rousing success.As environmental mandates for ships continue to get stricter, particularly with the new…
Petrobras to Pay $853 Mln US Fine in Car Wash Probe
Petróleo Brasileiro SA will pay an $853.2 million fine to settle U.S. criminal charges the Brazilian state-run oil company bribed politicians and then sought to conceal the payments, the Justice Department said on Thursday.The settlement with U.S. prosecutors is an important milestone for Petrobras, as the company is known, as it tries to put behind it numerous corruption allegations stemming from the landmark "Car Wash" investigation."Executives at the highest levels of Petrobras — including…
RWE Reserves German LNG Import Capacity
Europe’s leading energy companies RWE and German LNG Terminal GmbH, the joint venture driving forward Germany’s first LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel in Northern Germany, have reached an agreement for a considerable part of the terminal’s capacity on a long-term basis.This contract follows a successful “Open Season” in which market interest was tested. The total capacity of the combined LNG import and small-scale terminal will be 5 billion cubic metres. RWE has signed a contract that guarantees RWE access to substantial annual capacity.Andree Stracke…
Eco-friendly Power for Container Ships in Hamburg Port
Port of Hamburg is taking a further step toward improving air quality at its port. Innovative technology developed right here in the city is set to enable large and very large container ships to switch off their auxiliary diesel supplies during lay time and instead draw the power they need for on-board operations from a new kind of mobile generator.Becker Marine Systems, Hapag-Lloyd AG and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) have been testing the new technology as part of a joint pilot project since the start of the year.
Innogy Flags Cost Cuts Shortly after CEO Resignation
German energy group Innogy on Tuesday said it was examining potential cost cuts across all segments, less than two weeks after its chief executive left in the wake of a profit warning. "The Innogy Executive Board is currently reviewing discretionary spending across all segments for the potential to deliver further cost reductions," Innogy, which is majority-owned by RWE, said in a statement. The group will provide further details along with annual results scheduled to be published on March 12, it said. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
Noble Group's Shares Plunge, Elman Steps Down
Decline in shares is biggest on record. Noble Group Ltd reported a quarterly loss that pummelled its shares by a record 33 percent, stoking worries the Singapore-listed commodity trader was failing to recover from a crisis-wracked two years despite a deep restructuring. As previously flagged, founder Richard Elman, 77, said on Thursday he was stepping down as executive chairman to take on a non-executive board role as chairman emeritus. Board member Paul Brough, a former senior partner at KPMG, becomes executive chairman with immediate effect, and would lead a strategic review.
Canada to Roll Out First Propane Export Terminal
Royal Vopak and AltaGas have entered into a joint venture and will invest together in the development of the Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal (RIPET). RIPET is expected to be the first propane export facility off the west coast of Canada. The project is to be designed to ship 1.2 million tonnes of propane per annum, with approximately 96,000 cubic meters of storage capacity. The facility is expected to be commissioned in Q1 2019. Vopak will take a 30 percent interest in RIPET. Vopak's…
Cairn Appoints Giadrossi as Non-Executive Director
Cairn has appointed Nicoletta Giadrossi as an independent non-executive director with effect from 10 January 2017. Nicoletta will also become a member of the Company’s remuneration committee. Nicoletta Giadrossi holds a BA in Mathematics & Economics from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She began her career with The Boston Consulting Group before moving to General Electric, where she progressed through a series of P&L management roles in several European divisions…
Petrobras Announces new Diesel, Gasoline Price Policy
Petrobras will adopt a new pricing policy for gasoline and diesel sold at its refineries from tomorrow. This policy will be based on two factors: parity with the international market, including costs such as shipping, internal transport costs and port fees; plus a margin to compensate for inherent operational risks, such as exchange rate and price volatility, delays at ports, profit and taxes. Petrobras’ Executive Board has decided that the company will not set its prices below this international parity level.
Maersk Drilling Delivers $164m Profit
Maersk Drilling delivered a profit of USD 164m (USD 218m) in the second quarter of 2016. The result is positively impacted by a strong operational performance with an average uptime of 98% and savings on operating costs, however partly offset by more idle days. The underlying profit was USD 164m (USD 189m), generating a ROIC of 8.3% (10.6%). “A high operational performance averaging 98% and further savings on operating costs are both contributing factors to the satisfactory result we deliver in the second quarter.
Austrian Demand for Russian Gas Growing
At a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV AG, that took place in St. Petersburg today it was noted that Russian gas exports to Austria had increased by 11.5 per cent in 2015 against 2014. The demand for Gazprom's gas in Austria continues to grow in 2016. According to estimates, the Company supplied 19.8 per cent more gas to Austria from January 1 through June 9 of this year than in the same period of 2015. It was emphasized that the Nord Stream 2 project was running on schedule.
