LNG news

Technip Energies, in a joint venture with its partners Saipem and Nipigas, has successfully loaded, shipped, and delivered as planned the first modules for Train 1 of the Arctic LNG 2 project.

The Arctic LNG 2 is located in Gydan, Northern Russia and is one of the world’s largest LNG projects under construction with a total capacity of 3× 6.6 million tpy.

On 26 August, the two first pipe-rack modules left the Zhoushan port in China. The modules, each weighing more than 9000 t are to be skidded onto the gravity-based structure (GBS) platform for Train 1 at the LNG Construction Centre in Murmansk, Russia. Once the GBS1 platform is integrated with all topside modules, the complete structure will be towed to the western shore of the Gydan Peninsula, and placed onto the river bed in its final location. In total, three GBS platforms will be installed in Gydan.

Alain Poincheval, Fellow Executive Project Director of Arctic LNG 2 at Technip Energies, commented: “We are proud to have achieved this key project milestone with the first modules completed and shipped in a record time despite the COVID-19 challenges. This major achievement demonstrates a strong involvement of thousands of people and robust collaboration between Technip Energies and all parties, especially our customer Novatek and its partners along with our partners and subcontractors. "We will continue the same path to complete all shipments and installations for the first GBS by the beginning of the next year.”

Repsol has started the construction of the LNG bunker terminal at the port of Bilbao, Spain, to supply Brittany Ferries' vessels Salamanca and Santoña, which will start their operations in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

The construction of this terminal is part of the long-term collaboration agreement formalised in 2019 between Repsol and Brittany Ferries for the supply of LNG to their operations in Spain. This facility is scheduled to be commissioned in 1H22.

The Bilbao terminal will have a cryogenic tank with a storage capacity of 1000 m3, which allows the natural gas to be kept in a liquid state at -160˚C. The flexible design of the terminal will allow it to service different vessels in the future, representing an important decarbonisation opportunity for port operations.

The start of construction is on schedule due to the efficient collaboration between Repsol's engineering teams, the different administrations involved, and the Port Authority of Bilbao.

This project is a clear example of Repsol’s commitment to industrial development and will involve an investment of more than €10 million. This terminal will be joined by the construction of a second terminal of the same capacity in Santander, Spain, where the Port Authority of Santander has already begun work on the conditioning of the quay where the bunker station will be located. Both terminals are co-financed by the European Commission through the CEF – Connecting Europe Facilities Programme.

The construction of the Bilbao and Santander terminals is another step towards the company's goal of achieving zero net emissions by 2050, with LNG as an alternative fuel for ships.

Specifically, the gasification of the Brittany Ferries’ lines operating from Bilbao and Santander will reduce annual emissions by approximately 73 000 t/CO2.

Mayer Brown advised Höegh LNG, which provides maritime transportation and storage of LNG, on the long-term charter and operation and service agreements for an FSRU.

Höegh LNG has agreed to receive, store, and regasify LNG to supply natural gas, as well as provide other FSRU operations and services, to a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy Inc. for a term of 10 years. The FSRU, which is scheduled to begin operations in the 4Q21, will be deployed at the Old Harbour Bay in Jamaica.

“This transaction cements Höegh LNG’s position as a market leading FSRU provider, and we are optimistic the FSRU market will continue to grow as a number of developing economies look to utilise FSRUs as a solution to meet rising energy demands in the post COVID-19 environment," said Mayer Brown LNG Practice Leader for Asia Nick Kouvaritakis.

The energy company Gasum has delivered LNG as maritime fuel to the French luxury cruise operator La Compagnie du PONANT (PONANT) in Le Havre, France. The LNG was delivered to PONANT ’s newly built polar explorer Le Commandant Charcot in its inaugural call to a French port on 24 September 2021. This bunker operation was Gasum’s first LNG delivery in France and marked a further milestone in the extension of the company’s delivery network. It was also the first LNG bunkering ever performed in Le Havre, which is the second largest commercial port and the largest container port in France.

Gasum and PONANT share the dedication both to excellency and to reducing the environmental footprint of the shipping industry. Le Commandant Charcot, named after the renowned French polar scientist and explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot, is the first hybrid-electric polar exploration ship powered by LNG. This polar exploration vessel is the latest addition to PONANT’s fleet and is set to sail the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

“We have been working on this natural gas-powered polar exploration ship project for six years and this is already the second LNG bunkering operation we have carried out with Gasum since the delivery of the ship on 29 July 2021.

“These LNG bunkering operations represent the culmination of several years of analysis, engineering, and testing to perform these operations safely and with maximum efficiency.

“Le Commandant Charcot is the first passenger ship equipped with high-pressure membrane LNG tanks offering up to two months of autonomy on natural gas, greater flexibility in its bunkering and operation, and guaranteeing enhanced safety.

“Le Commandant Charcot paves the way for new and more environmentally friendly natural gas propulsion methods and helps to meet the CO2 reduction targets set out in the Paris Agreement” said Hervé Gastinel, CEO of PONANT.

Reducing emissions is crucial as Le Commandant Charcot will be operating in fragile environments, such as the waters of the North Pole and Antarctica. LNG is currently the most environmentally friendly maritime fuel available – switching to LNG completely removes SOx and particle emissions and reduces NOx emissions by up to 85%. LNG also emits at least 20% less CO2 when compared to traditional maritime fuels.

At the Gastech 2021 exhibition in Dubai, UAE, GTT and Deltamarin received an Approval in Principle (AiP) from the classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for their new design applied for LNG-fuelled tankers of Aframax type.

This new LNG-fuelled tanker design employs membrane tank technology developed by GTT. GTT has designed the tank, while its integration into the vessel has been studied by Deltamarin.

The approval from ABS certifies that the onboard integration of the membrane fuel tank solution is technically feasible for an LNG-fuelled tanker and that it complies with all safety regulations. This new design provides a solution which fully complies with environmental regulations adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) until 2030. Compared to a conventional oil-fuelled tanker, this new LNG-fuelled tanker design reduces CO2 emissions by at least 20%. It also offers increased autonomy without reducing the cargo volume.

Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and CEO of GTT, said: "This new design further demonstrates GTT's ambition to innovate and support the maritime industry in facing the challenges of the energy transition. With Deltamarin and ABS, we are very proud to be able to offer a new LNG-fuelled tanker solution that is more respectful of the environment and without making any compromise on cargo."

Stonepeak to acquire Teekay LNG Ship-to-ship LNG bunkering MoU signed in Japan Petronas delivers 50th LNG cargo

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Qatar Petroleum announced that it has ordered four new LNG carriers from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group Co. Ltd (Hudong), a wholly owned subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC).

These four carriers are the first batch of orders in Qatar Petroleum’s massive LNG shipbuilding programme, which will cater for future LNG fleet requirements for the North Field expansion projects as well as for existing vessel replacement requirements. This order is also the first ever placed by Qatar Petroleum or any of its affiliates with a Chinese shipyard for LNG ships, and the first with Hudong in connection with the agreement to reserve ship construction capacity that was executed in April 2020.

His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum said, “We continue to push forward with our LNG expansion projects, and [this] announcement is yet another step in our journey. I am especially pleased with the signing of this order as it marks our first ever new LNG carrier to be built in the People’s Republic of China.”

Qatar Petroleum’s LNG carrier fleet programme is the largest of its kind in the history of the LNG industry and will play a pivotal role in meeting the shipping requirements of Qatar Petroleum’s local and international LNG projects, as well as replacing some of Qatar's existing LNG fleet.

Stena Power & LNG Solutions has completed successful model testing of its LNG receiving terminal technology for the Delta Offshore Energy (DOE) LNG-to-power project in Vietnam.

Scale model testing of the jettyless floating terminal (JFT), the self-installing regas platform (SRP), the floating storage unit (FSU), and an LNG carrier was completed at the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) to verify and calibrate Stena’s computer simulations and research, ahead of construction and deployment of the assets to waters off Bac Lieu Province in Vietnam.

Large scale models (up to 10 m in length) were created in a scale of 1:30 to obtain test results with the highest possible accuracy. A number of various tests were performed by engineers from both Stena Power & LNG Solutions and MARIN to simulate critical wave, wind, and current conditions specific to local conditions in Vietnam, including 100-year cyclonic and monsoon events.

Knut-Erik Johansen, Engineering Manager, Stena Power & LNG Solutions, said: “We are delighted to have successfully verified the performance of our JFT, SRP, and FSU through an extensive engineering examination with the support of the highly reputable and experienced engineers at MARIN.

Bureau Veritas (BV) has recently also issued an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the complete LNG receiving facilities engineered by Stena Power & LNG Solutions for the DOE project. A similar AiP has been issued by DNV for the JFT.

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ADC Energy, a specialist provider of dynamic integrated rig inspections, has secured a contract with a US-based global infrastructure organisation, as the business accelerates its strategic diversification plan.

ADC Energy has begun conducting a series of audits for an LNG company to help select and identify drilling rigs which can be repurposed for the firm’s LNG operations globally. As part of the workscope, the company’s specialist engineering teams from the US, UK, and Asia Pacific will evaluate a number of oil and gas drilling rigs to determine energy efficiency and suitability for being repurposed for LNG deployment. ADC Energy will utilise its bespoke criteria to evaluate the functional design, physical condition, and operability of each asset, before advising on the process to repurpose the rigs in line with industry safety and operating standards including API and OEM functional design specifications.

To date, ADC has conducted the initial assessments of the Maersk Gallant and Maersk Guardian jack up units prior to their departure from their North Sea locations to South America.

The business has also been advancing the oil and gas industry’s efforts to decarbonise existing assets in recent months, providing inspections to evaluate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, reducing non-productive time, and highlighting how operators can gain greater efficiencies from their installations.

Austin Hay, Director at ADC Energy said: “While the oil and gas industry remains a key focus for ADC Energy, it is exciting to see our diversification strategy come to fruition with our latest contract in the LNG sector.

Lloyd’s Register (LR), Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop digital twin technology to support the digitalisation of the maritime industry and the growing demand for large scale LNG carriers.

As part of the MoU, KSOE and HHI will further develop its Hyundai Intelligent Digital Twin Ship (HIDTS) for a type B gas containment tank suitable for a 174 000 m3 LNG carrier.

LR’s role is to perform audit, review, risk assessment, verification, and validation activities to support KSOE and HHI with the successful development and implementation of the digital twin. LR’s ShipRight Procedure for Digital Compliance will be applied to the HIDTS, including stages Digital Twin READY, the certification of KSOE and HHI as Digital Twin Developers, and Digital Twin APPROVED, the verification of HIDTS. LR will then apply stages Digital Twin COMMISSIONED, which requires a risk-based, resiliency analysis of HIDTS, and Digital Twin LIVE, the validation of HIDTS.

LR’s approach will cover the entire lifecycle of the digital twin technology, from conceptual design stage to the operation and large scale commercialisation of HIDTS.

“The HIDTS solution creates a digital twin environment in a cyber space which is identical to the maritime environment where a vessel is operated and tests the performance of key equipment and facilities of LNG carriers, such as the dual-fuel engine, gas supply system, and power and control systems. Spurred by the development of this HIDTS virtual commissioning solution, we plan to launch the new digital ship management solution that covers artificial intelligence technologies such as asset management, energy optimisation, and risk assessment” said Byoung-Hoon Kwon, Vice President of KSOE.

Woodside Energy Ltd (Woodside) has awarded an extension to a non-binding frame agreement for Worley’s brownfields engineering, procurement, and construction management services to continue supporting the Karratha Gas Plant and Pluto LNG assets in Western Australia.

The agreement covers brownfield engineering services including engineering studies and technical support, front-end engineering and detailed design services for sustaining capital projects, procurement, commissioning, project management and construction, and shutdown management.

Worley has provided brownfield engineering services to Woodside for over 30 years, utilising a variety of contracting models. The original agreement was established in 2018 and this extension is for a further two years with the option to extend.

The services will be executed by Worley’s Perth, Australia office with support from Worley’s Global Integrated Delivery team in India.