South Korea hosts Alaska Governor, energy team amid talks of gas pipeline
Alaskan state officials, including the governor, and energy officials will visit South Korea Tuesday amid expectations that talks with U.S. ally countries in Asia can revive a natural gas project that has been stalled. The main U.S. Business lobby in Seoul announced that the delegation of Governor Mike Dunleavy will include representatives from the Glanfarne Group, which is a partner on the project to transport natural gas from Alaska's remote northern region via a $44-billion pipeline, and the state agency for gas.
Prices rise following reports of a strike at Sudzha Gas Metering Station
The Dutch and British wholesale prices for gas rose on Friday after reports of a striking at the Sudzha gas station, which was the point where Russian gas used to enter Europe via Ukraine. LSEG data revealed that the Dutch contract for Winter 2025 was up 1,93 euros at 43.35 Euros/MWh at 0830 GMT. The Dutch contract for front-month was also 1.70 euros higher at 44.55 Euros/MWh. The April contract in Britain rose by 3.97 pounds, to 108.32 cents per therm. Ukraine's army, citing media, reported an early Friday strike on the Sudzha Gas Pumping and Measuring Station in western Russia's Kursk Region.
Alaska LNG project to start by 2030, says state governor
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy announced on Friday that exports of liquefied gas from Alaska may begin as early as 2030. In his speech to Congress, Donald Trump praised the $44 billion Alaska LNG Project. The project will deliver approximately 3.5 billion cubic foot of gas each day, a large portion of which is destined for international markets. No final investment decisions have been made yet. The project requires an 800-mile gas pipeline from Alaska's North to Asia. Dunleavy, who spoke at a Houston energy conference, said that Alaska has been in contact with potential buyers from Taiwan, South Korea Japan and Thailand.
Alaska LNG project could begin as early as 2030, says state governor
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy announced on Friday that exports of liquefied gas from Alaska may begin as early as 2030 or 2031. In his speech to Congress, Donald Trump praised the $44 billion Alaska LNG Project. The project will deliver approximately 3.5 billion cubic foot of gas per day from Alaska's North Slope, a large portion of which is destined for international markets. No final investment decisions have been made yet. The project requires an 800-mile gas pipeline from Alaska's North to Asia. Dunleavy…
Colombia regulator: Licenses for Petrobras and Ecopetrol offshore projects will be ready by mid-2026
Orlando Velandia of Colombia's hydrocarbons regulatory agency said that by mid-2026 the Brazilian state-run Petrobras, and its Colombian equivalent Ecopetrol, could have all the licenses they need to move forward with a joint offshore project in Colombia. The project is now commercialized after 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves were confirmed. The partners are planning to complete drilling a well in this year while also planning its development. Before building infrastructure, an environmental and social license is required.
Exxon Mobil to receive LNG from ARC Resources
ARC Resources announced on Tuesday that it had signed a long-term liquefied gas supply contract with a division of Exxon Mobil. In recent years, global LNG demand has increased amid a move towards cleaner energy. The U.S. is now a major supplier of both Europe and Asia. ExxonMobil LNG Asia Pacific has announced that it will buy all of ARC’s LNG from the Cedar LNG Project, which is approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year (mtpa), ARC said. Cedar LNG, a project in partnership with the Haisla Nation, located on Canada's West Coast and Pembina Pipeline, will begin commercial operations by 2028.
The U.S. fails to give Japan's Trade Minister a tariff exemption guarantee.
Japan's Trade Minister said on Monday that he had asked the United States to not impose tariffs on Japan, but he did not receive any assurances of Japan being exempted, including from a 25% duty on steel and aluminum set to begin on Wednesday. After meeting with U.S. Trade Rep Jamieson Greer and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in Washington D.C., Yoji Muto stated that "we agreed to continue to have close consultations with U.S. Muto, along with other Japanese senior officials, are attempting to convince President Donald Trump that Japan is a close partner who has invested heavily in U.S. economics and created millions jobs.
Bloggers claim that Russian special forces attacked Ukrainian forces at Kursk via a gas pipeline
Pro-Russian bloggers claimed that Russian special forces snuck miles through a large gas pipeline near Sudzha to try to surprise Ukrainian troops as part of a massive offensive to eject Ukrainian soldier from the western Russian region Kursk. In August of last year, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers took over about 1,300 sq km of Russia's Kursk Region in an effort to gain bargaining power in future negotiations as well as to force Russia to withdraw its military forces from eastern Ukraine. In its daily report on the situation at Kursk…
Bloggers say that Russia used a gas pipeline to surprise Ukrainian troops in Kursk.
Pro-Russian bloggers reported that Russia stormed the town of Sudzha Sunday, after special forces surprised Ukrainian units with a gas pipe as part of a massive offensive to eject Ukrainian troops from the western Russian region Kursk. In August of last year, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers took over about 1,300 sq km of Russia's Kursk Region in an effort to gain bargaining power in future negotiations as well as to force Russia to withdraw its military forces from eastern Ukraine. Yuri Podolyaka is a pro-Russian blogger who was born in Ukraine.
Trump: Japan and South Korea are interested in partnering with the US on Alaska pipeline
Donald Trump, the U.S. In an address to Congress, Trump stated that this pipeline would be the largest of its kind in the world. He said that Japan, South Korea, and other nations wanted to be his partners, with trillions of dollars in investments each. On Tuesday, Ahn Duk Geun, South Korea’s Minister of Industry said that the United States asked South Korea and some other countries whether they were interested in taking part in the Alaskan project to liquefy natural gas. He claimed that Seoul and Washington agreed. Tariffs, non-tariff and tariff barriers, shipbuilding. Anh made his comments after visiting Washington, D.C.
Exxon to produce 180,000 barrels per day of oil in seventh Guyana project
According to a document released by the Guyana's Environmental Agency on Monday, a consortium led by Exxon Mobil, based in the United States, plans to produce as much as 180,000 barrels of oil per day and 95 million cubic foot per day of gas from its seventh project, Hammerhead. Exxon, which includes U.S. Hess, and China CNOOC, has been waiting for approval from the government for this project since last January. The company also requested approval last week for its eighth project. Exxon stated in its environmental authorization application that Hammerhead would involve drilling between 14 and 30 wells…
Indonesia: UAE's Emirates Global Aluminium to build nuclear power plant
In a Wednesday statement, the Indonesian Economic Affairs Ministry said that UAE-based Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), plans to build in Indonesia a nuclear plant with a maximum capacity of 5 gigawatts. According to the ministry, high electricity costs and a shortage of low-carbon electric have delayed plans by EGA to increase capacity at an aluminium smelter in North Sumatra owned by Indonesia Asahan Aluminium by up to 400 tons per year. EGA has not responded immediately to a comment request regarding the nuclear plant. The request was made outside of regular UAE business hours.
Orban: Hungary will block EU Russia sanctions the next time, unless Ukraine gas is transited again.
Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orban warned on Friday that he would block the next rollover in EU sanctions against Russia, unless Brussels helped achieve a restart of Russian Gas Transit via Ukraine which was stopped on January 1. Orban said on state radio that Ukraine's decision to stop Russian gas transit into Central Europe, and the price hike that resulted from it, was "unacceptable". The transit agreement expired, and Russian gas exports through pipelines in Ukraine ceased. Kyiv has refused to negotiate another transit agreement as the war against Russia's invasion enters its third year.
Russia's proposed gas pipeline to Iran
The Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday plans to build a pipeline to Iran that will eventually transport up to 55 billion cubic meters (bcms) of gas per year into the West Asian nation. Here are some background details about the cooperation between Iran, Russia and the gas sector. Iran is the second largest gas producer in the world after Russia. However, U.S. sanctions are preventing access to technology as well as slowing down gas exports. In July 2022, the National Iranian Oil Company and Russian energy giant Gazprom agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding worth about $40 billion.
Prices for gas in Europe are lower due to milder weather forecasts, but storage concerns remain
Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas eased on Monday, as latest forecasts show milder temperatures for next week. However, lower storage levels in comparison to the past five years continue support prices at 14-month highs. According to LSEG, the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was 0.77 euros lower at 48.83 Euros per megawatt hour or MWh, or $14.81/mmbtu at 0856 GMT. The front-month contract in Britain was down by 1.52 pence, at 122.65 cents per therm. Meanwhile, the day-ahead was down by 1.90 pence, at 122.25 cents per therm.
EUROPE GAS-Prices steady near 14-month highs
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were mostly unchanged on Friday morning. They are near the highest level in 14 months, and some profit-taking was offset by an outage to Norway's LNG facility and possible cooler weather next week. According to LSEG, the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was 49.74 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) or $14.99/mmbtu at 0909 GMT. This is a decrease of 0.02 euros. The Dutch day-ahead contracts eased by 0.38 euro to 49.45 Euro/MWh. The day-ahead contract in Britain was down by 0.6 pence, at 123.90 cents per therm.
Putin is clear: there will be no Ukraine Gas Transit Deal
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, said that it is now clear that no new gas transit agreement will be signed with Kyiv for Russian gas to be sent through Ukraine to Europe. However, Russia will survive. As the EU attempts to reduce its dependency on Moscow, Russia has lost nearly all its European clients. Before the Ukraine War, Russia was Europe's largest single natural gas supplier. The Nord Stream gas pipeline, which was destroyed in 2022, cut off a major artery of Russian gas exports. Now one of the last…
Lithuanian officials see a 'high probability' of Baltic Sea cables being intentionally cut
Gitanas Nuseda, the Lithuanian President said that it was highly likely that the two fibre-optic cables undersea that were damaged in the Baltic Sea last month were intentionally cut. After being damaged on November 17-18, both cables, one connecting Finland with Germany and the second connecting Sweden and Lithuania were repaired and back online. Nauseda, a reporter at the time, said that there was a high probability of this being a malicious activity. He added that there was no proof to show the damage was intentional. Investigators have focused on the Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 which left the Russian Port of Ust-Luga in Nov.
Sources say that BP is looking for buyers to buy its US Natural Gas Pipeline System stake.
Four people familiar with the matter have confirmed that BP is looking for buyers to take a stake in their U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline Network. Two people have said that the British energy company may be able to raise $3 billion through the sale. One of them added that BP could sell as much as a 49 percent stake in its business. Two other people confirmed that the sale is part of BP's CEO Murray Auchincloss’s efforts to reduce the debt levels at the company, which have risen in the last year. BP refused to comment. The four individuals spoke under the condition of anonymity, as they had not been authorized to speak in public.
Blackstone buys pipeline stakes in EQT from EQT at $3.5 billion
Blackstone, an alternative asset manager, said Monday it would purchase minority stakes in certain of EQT's pipelines through a joint-venture for $3.5 billion. The sale will help EQT reduce its debt after it purchased Equitrans Midstream for $14 billion in July. In premarket trading, shares of EQT rose by 3.9%. Blackstone and EQT will form a joint venture worth about $8.8 Billion. This joint venture would include EQT’s ownership interests in the Mountain Valley pipeline and the Hammerhead pipe. The company would be able to leave 2024 with a net debt of about $9 billion.
