Category: Nieuws

The federal government is seeking to get the oil industry to restart idled refineries, Bloomberg has reported, citing an unnamed source.

According to the source, officials, including members of the National Economic Council, have been contacting industry players to inquire about the possibility of restarting refineries previously shut down in the latest attempt to rein in retail fuel prices.

Regular gasoline prices hit a high of $4.60 per gallon yesterday, up from $4.589 per gallon a week ago and $3.035 per gallon a year ago.

Since the start of the pandemic two years ago, refineries with a combined capacity of over 1 million bpd have been shuttered, Bloomberg reported. Globally, some 2.13 million bpd in refining capacity has been shut down since 2020.

In addition to the shutdown of refineries, at least two are set to be converted to biofuel production facilities, further shrinking the refining capacity available in the world’s largest oil consumer.

The refining capacity shortage has emerged as one of the reasons, besides high crude oil prices, for the current fuel price crunch that has sent the Biden administration scrambling for solutions months before the mid-term elections.

Among the steps taken so far were a 50-million-barrel oil release from the strategic petroleum reserve last November and the announcement of another, massive one of 180 million barrels, to take place over six months.

In addition, the Energy Department has reached out to the industry to ask companies to boost oil production. But while production is indeed growing, it is growing much more slowly than it must to offset supply tightness. Exports are growing, too, contributing to domestic supply tightness, especially in middle distillates.

This has prompted fears of shortages due to consistently strong demand as the economy and consumer spending recovered after the pandemic.

Oilprice.com by Irina Slav, May 27, 2022

The redeveloper is eyeing warehousing allowed in the plan

Bayonne has adopted a redevelopment plan for 140 acres of industrial area in Constable Hook, including the former Exxon site off New Hook Road, clearing the way for potential warehouses. The area is currently characterized by tank farms, marine terminals, and industrial uses related to its location along the Kill Van Kull.

The Planning Board adopted the redevelopment plan at its April meeting. The plan was presented by City Planner Suzanne Mack.

Industrial redevelopment plan

According to Mack, the redevelopment area not only includes the Exxon site, but also the International Matex Tank Terminal (IMTT) site to the north. In total, the area encompasses 140 acres of land in Bayonne, with 90 acres being the Exxon site, 40 acres being the IMTT site, and the other 10 acres being a Conrail property for a rail line that separates the two sites.

The area has been industrial in nature for decades prior to Exxon closing shop. And Mack said the new zoning overlay present in the redevelopment plan preserves that heavy industry. According to Mack, this was to allow IMTT, which is an active heavy industrial site, to remain that way if it so chooses.

“There are three developers here,” Mack said. “One is Conrail, which remains in place. IMTT and Exxon are two other separate developers. It’s unclear at this time whether IMTT’s portion will be developed at the same rate and with the same uses as Exxon. So by allowing them to do an overlay, we would use the redevelopment agreement to determine whether or not they stay and just use the underlying I-H [heavy industrial] zoning.”

What is permitted under the plan

Mack said there were high design standards for industrial buildings nowadays that the city was requiring in the plan.

“Many industrial buildings that are being developed now have very nice buildings and we’ve included that,” Mack said.

According to Mack, another newer regulation incorporated into the plan requires that garbage and recycling be handled privately.

“This is a new regulation we’re including,” Mack said. “All refuse and recycling should be handled and disposed by private entities. They will not rely on the municipality for handling of disposal. That’s a new suggestion that’s going to be put in all of our redevelopment plans in order to not have the city have the burden of trash pickup.”

Since it is along the waterfront, although in an industrial area, a walkway does not need to be constructed but the redeveloper must pay for the construction of an offsite walkway. And the site’s waterfront will be developed as a water dependent use or will remain undeveloped and reserved for said uses in the future.

In response to general questions, Michael Miceli, the attorney for the site redeveloper Duke Realty, LLC, said that the redeveloper was contemplating warehouses for the site that would employ approximately 100 people per building. However, it is not clear how many warehouses would be constructed at the time, but Miceli estimated anywhere between three and six.

“It’ll depend on the scope,” Miceli said. “It could be anywhere from 300 to 600 depending on the scope of the actual buildings that are approved.”

Commissioner concerns addressed

Commissioner Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski, the city council’s designee on the planning board who is also City Council President and a mayoral candidate, was concerned about the new truck traffic the redevelopment would bring to the area. In response, Mack noted there is $5.5 million in grants the city was receiving to address the roadways in the area.

“We’re doing a whole new layout of new utilities and roadway connections that will service the site,” Mack said. “We did that prior to the development of the site.”

However, Mack asked the city council to extend the grant to be awarded by March of next year. The council approved the request at its April meeting, combining the grant with another to provide for the roadway overhaul. Mack added that the site is going to have a lot of large truck traffic.

“It’s going to be a warehouse facility,” Mack said. “So there will not be large trucks.”

Trucks that are heading to the site will use Route 440 to get to the site, not local roads.

“They will come down Route 440 and turn onto New Hook Road,” Mack said.

Ashe-Nadrowski was still concerned about traffic, noting the industrial sites in the area that are looking to expand. Mack said there was a parking study done that she didn’t have on hand but can be presented to the board.

Neighboring properties object

An attorney representing neighboring applicants addressed the board, calling for the rejection of the plan.

Attorney Johnathan Guldin of Clark Guldin said he represented a number of neighboring properties, including: 7 Hook Road, LLC; Atlantic Cement Realty, owner of LaFarage Terminal; Duraport Realty 4, LLC; 160 East 22nd Street Realty Urban Renewal LLC; and 140 East 22nd Street Urban Renewal LLC, owner of the Kenrich Petrochemicals redevelopment site.

“My clients represent a handful of approximately 15 or 20 property owners in this area,” Guldin said. “They are either adjacent to or in close proximity to this particular site. They object to this redevelopment plan. No one has consulted them on this plan.”

Guldin said that one of the lots was not noticed on the agenda and this was a procedural defect. He added that traffic was an issue in the area.

“The Exxon site has been vacant for over a decade, but historically were serviced by either marine vessel or rail,” Guldin said. “The warehousing uses that we’re talking about or are being contemplated on the redevelopment plan contemplates three to six buildings. Hundreds of thousands of square feet of warehousing will obviously have significant impacts on local, county, and state roadways and circulation in that Constable Hook area. It is already in very poor condition…. It’s a maze and this plan would introduce significant industrial traffic from the farthest east property near the Kill van Kull up until Route 440. It would have a dramatic impact on not just traffic but infrastructure because there are no sidewalks. The roads are in poor condition. There is no sanitary sewer, there is no water. There’s no real plan other than we’re going to address it later on.”

Gulden asked the board to table the plan until the property owners’ input is heard or until further considered by city professionals.

Redeveloper responds

Following that, Miceli took the podium to defend the project. He said the aforementioned lot was in fact noticed and it was typographical error on the agenda. He added there does not need to be a notice when requesting the board to look at a site to determine if it is an area in need of redevelopment or when approving redevelopment plans.

When it came to concerns about traffic, Miceli noted there was a traffic study with the plan.

“It was reviewed by the City Planner and City Engineer,” Miceli said. “They had over a month and a half to review it. If there were any concerns, they could have put them in the redevelopment plan, but they did not.”

According to Miceli, the redeveloper will construct roads that will benefit the area.

“Drive down there now,” Miceli said. “There are no roads. This will lay out a road network. We will need to show you that road network works.”

And the traffic generated by the warehouse is not going to impact the area, according to Miceli.

“Based on our studies, it’s not going to be a significant impact one way or the other between the two,” Miceli said. “So the traffic improvements will be addressed. We will pay our fair share. This is, I hope, going to be a big project and we will significantly upgrade a decaying infrastructure that’s been sitting there for how many years? How long do we have to wait before we clean this up and erase Exxon’s environmental liability down there.”

Cleaning up a Brownfield site and using union labor

Miceli said this cleans up a Brownfield site, best defined as a former industrial site which is now vacant and contaminated.

“Can you think of a dirtier site in Bayonne?,” Miceli said. “Maybe one or two. But this is one of the most contaminated sites in the state that we’re cleaning up. Duke is doing that. We met with officials to hash out what our remediation plan is going to be… Over the next several months, there will be toxic things carted out of our city and that legacy is going to be erased step by step… We are doing remediation, this promotes economic activity.”

Miceli said this plan would allow redevelopment that would bring back jobs lost when the Exxon site closed in the city.

“I’m sure we all know someone who lost their job or was forced into retirement when Exxon closed,” Miceli said. “Nothing’s happened down there for years. It’s a whole other city. You can’t see from one end of the site to the other. It’s time to do this.”

Patrick Kelleher, president of the Hudson County Building and Construction Trades Council, said he favored union labor for the project and spoke to the attorney to the redeveloper about it.

“I represent all those union people here that are looking to go to work on this project with Duke,” Kelleher said. “We want to make sure union labor is on all of these jobs in Bayonne. It’s all about giving our Bayonne residents an opportunity. Because they all pay taxes in their town and they want to go to work in this town.”

Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to adopt the plan, with Ashe-Nadrowski adding: “I think it’s great we’re getting rid of this Brownfield and bringing this back to being a productive site.”

At the April meeting of the Bayonne City Council, the plan was also introduced by the council with a hearing and vote set for its May meeting. After that, Duke Realty, LLC will have to go before the planning board again for final site plan review before construction can begin.

Hudson Reporter by Daniel Israel, May 20, 2022

Europe’s largest port is poised to become a key hub of a new “hydrogen economy” with numerous projects now underway along its 42-kilometer length. The Port Authority and many port-based companies are now preparing to build the infrastructure required for a complete system of local and international supply and demand converging on Rotterdam.

Their confidence became apparent earlier this month, when the city, the Port Authority, and South Holland Province signed a joint statement with nearly 70 port-based operators and business partners in (potentially) exporting countries.

They affirmed their ability to supply Europe with at least 4.6 Mt of hydrogen annually by 2030. It was their ‘offer’ to European Commission executive vice-president Frans Timmermans, now actively advocating for the new REPowerEU strategy. Europe suddenly raised its goal for green hydrogen production and import to 20 Mt/yr by 2030. The Rotterdam signers are saying they can provide more than 20% of the European Commission’s target.

Among the signers were a wide array of ports and industrial groups with hydrogen ambitions. Their commitment occurred during the World Hydrogen Summit & Exhibition organized by the UK-based Sustainable Energy Council, which put Rotterdam’s wide-ranging hydrogen ambitions on full display.

Rotterdam’s wide-ranging initiatives anticipate both supply and demand of hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels. They should find support from the Dutch government, which announced its intention last month to invest €338 million in green hydrogen production and distribution.

Electrolysis engine

The Rotterdam Port Authority and major industry players are anticipating the rise of demand in Europe. Their bold initiative to build large electrolysis units on reclaimed land near the mouth of the Maas River – the Maasvlakte – is taking shape. New offshore wind turbines now under development will power them.

The Netherlands has approximately 2GW offshore wind capacity, which is an initial outlay of the country’s plan to fill large swathes of its North Sea waters with wind towers, creating 21GW of offshore wind power by 2030. About half of this is currently tendered.

Wind energy for green hydrogen production on Maasvlakte will come with guarantees of origin from the 2GW Hollandse Kust Noord Wind Farm offshore site, now being developed by the CrossWind consortium of Shell and the Dutch renewable energy developer Eneco. The consortium intends to have the 69-turbine wind farm operational by the end of next year.

The site itself, approximately 25 hectares of filled-in land, is planned for an initial 1GW conversion park, consisting of four electrolysis units of 200-300MW each. Shell, bp, and Air Liquide are among the groups now proposing to build the electrolysis factories, to be operational by 2026. Part of the site is dedicated to electricity connection and waste heat re-use.

Shell is taking the lead with plans for its 200MW Hydrogen Holland I project, now subject to investment decision later this year. It will supply green hydrogen to Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park which operates some 30 kilometers further east of the port. ThyssenKrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers will develop the plant with its large-scale 20MW alkaline water electrolysis units.

The conversion park’s next project in line is H2-Fifty, a bp joint venture with the Dutch consortium HyCC. This 250MW electrolysis facility will supply green hydrogen to BP RR – the largest oil refinery in Europe – and other port industries. Now in conceptual phase, the project anticipates FID by end of next year.

Continued development of electrolysis should gain momentum from EU mandates, which will require the port’s industries to achieve net-0 carbon emissions by 2035. The Port Authority anticipates to eventually expand to 20GW capacity, making it by far the largest electrolysis production site in Europe. New locations within the port will be made available, with a ramp up of tendering anticipated after 2026.

Pipeline connectors

Rotterdam wants local production and import of both green and blue hydrogen. The port aims to import hydrogen in the form of ammonia and LOHC, and to transfer this to a portfolio of hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels. These will need to move easily within the port and far beyond.

An open access underground pipeline will serve the new electrolysis park while connecting to port-based industries and the ten independent import terminals located along the port’s 42-km length.

There are two hydrogen pipeline systems now in development. HyTransPort, the port’s dedicated hydrogen pipeline, is a joint venture of the Port of Rotterdam and the Dutch natural gas utility Gasunie. Construction is anticipated to start early next year.

HyTransPort will connect to an expansive pipeline system serving northwest Europe, linking the Port of Rotterdam to the rest of the Netherlands, Port of Antwerp, and the industrial Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany. Called the Delta Corridor, this 4-pipeline system will transport hydrogen, hydrogen-based fuels and other industrial gasses.

To be operational in 2026, the consortium behind the project includes the Port of Rotterdam, Shell, bp, thyssenkrupp, the Essen, Germany-based power developer RWE, and several other industrial groups.

The Delta Corridor will also work the other way, carrying captured CO2 from industries to depleted gas wells undersea. It will facilitate the Portos project, the most advanced of three large carbon capture and storage schemes being planned in The Netherlands (each named after one of the Three Musketeers!).

Portos will repurpose an offshore natural gas platform, to store approximately 2.5 Mt of CO2 per year, taking it to the depleted gas wells more than 2 km deep. It will carry away CO2 from port-based industries including Shell, ExxonMobil, Air Liquide, and Air Products, according to a contract signed last year, and eventually from industries in Germany.

The €500m project is being developed by a three-member public consortium including the Port Authority, Gasunie, and the Dutch natural gas utility EBN. FID is expected this year, with operations to begin in 2025.

Anticipating imports

Europe’s new requirement of 20 Mt/yr of hydrogen by 2030 will far exceed its capacity to produce such quantities. It will require imports, opening enormous opportunities for producers of blue and green hydrogen worldwide. The Port Authority and its partners are positioning for this.

The Rotterdam Port Authority is already studying some 100 supply opportunities around the globe, in the US, South America, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and everywhere. It has been in exploratory studies with more than ten countries, including Iceland, Portugal, Morocco, Oman, South Africa, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Australia and Canada, looking specifically at opportunities for strategic cooperation to establish export chains.

A key piece of infrastructure for imports is now in the design stage. The ACE terminal, to be built on the Maasvlakte, will serve as an import storage terminal for green and blue ammonia. It is subject of an initial agreement among Gasunie, Dutch terminal operator HES International, and the port-based storage firm Vopak. Gasunie will connect pipeline to the site, which may eventually include an ammonia cracker facility.

Oilprice.com by Alan Mammoser, May 27, 2022

U.S. crude prices appear on track for the third consecutive weekly rise as investors looked past the Energy Information Administration’s (“EIA”) report showing a surprise build in stockpiles and turned their attention to the strained market fundamentals.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude futures increased 1.8% to settle at $110.24 a barrel yesterday after climbing $6.47 on Wednesday.

Before going into the other factors, let’s dig deep into the EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending May 6.

Analyzing the Latest EIA Report

Crude Oil: The federal government’s EIA report revealed that crude inventories rose 8.5 million barrels compared to analyst expectations of a 300,000-barrel decrease. A sharp drop in exports primarily accounted for the unexpected stockpile build with the world’s biggest oil consumer even as refinery crude runs rose and production declined. Total domestic stocks now stand at 424.2 million barrels — 12.5% less than the year-ago figure and 13% lower than the five-year average.

On a somewhat bullish note, the latest report showed that supplies at the Cushing terminal (the key delivery hub for U.S. crude futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange) decreased 587,000 barrels to 25.9 million barrels.

Meanwhile, the crude supply cover was up from 26.7 days in the previous week to 27.1 days. In the year-ago period, the supply cover was 32.3 days.

Let’s turn to the products now.

Gasoline: Gasoline supplies decreased for the sixth week in succession. The 3.6-million-barrel drop was attributable to strong demand and exports, as well as lower imports. Analysts had forecast that gasoline inventories would fall by 1.7 million barrels. At 225 million barrels, the current stock of the most widely used petroleum product is 4.7% less than the year-earlier level and 5% below the five-year average range.

Distillate: Distillate fuel supplies (including diesel and heating oil) logged its fifth weekly fall in a row. The 913,000-barrel decline primarily reflected higher exports. Current inventories — at 104 million barrels — are 22.6% below the year-ago level and 23% lower than the five-year average.

Refinery Rates: Refinery utilization, at 90%, rose 1.6% from the prior week.

Final Words

Oil prices ended above $110 yesterday, primarily reflecting concerns about supplies from Russia, which is one of the world’s largest producers of the commodity. Raising the prospect of a dramatic fall in crude flows, speculation has it that the European Union could shortly follow the United States in blocking imports of Russian energy to protest Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

While there are jitters over soaring inflation, a strong greenback, stuttering economic growth and the coronavirus lockdowns in China (the world’s second-biggest oil consumer), these have been more than offset by the pending European embargo that could lead to an acute supply squeeze.

As it is, the Oil/Energy market continues to enjoy support from geopolitical uncertainty amid Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. In March, crude prices surged to multi-year highs of $130-a-barrel.

Even the fundamentals point to a tightening of the market. Per the latest government report discussed above, U.S. commercial stockpiles have been down more than 12% in a year, prompted by the demand spike owing to the reopening of economies and a rebound in activity.

As a matter of fact, the Energy Select Sector SPDR — an assortment of the largest U.S. companies thronging the space — has risen 40.7% year to date against a 17.5% loss for the broader S&P 500 benchmark.

Consequently, the top three gainers of the S&P 500 this year are all energy-related names: Occidental Petroleum OXY, Valero Energy VLO and Coterra Energy CTRA.

Occidental Petroleum: OXY, carrying a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), is the top-performing S&P 500 stock in 2022 with a gain of 104.3%. Occidental Petroleum’s expected EPS growth rate for three to five years is currently 32.8%, which compares favorably with the industry’s growth rate of 22.1%.

OXY has a projected earnings growth rate of 264.3% for this year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Occidental Petroleum’s 2022 earnings has been revised 88.4% upward over the past 60 days.

Valero Energy: This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock has jumped 60.3% year to date. VLO beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 84.3%.

Valero Energy is valued at around $49.1 billion. VLO has a projected earnings growth rate of 353.7% for this year.

Corterra Energy: This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock was the third-best performer in the S&P 500 Index, with shares appreciating 57.9% so far in 2022. CTRA has a projected earnings growth rate of 81.8% for this year.

Yahoo! Finance by Nilanjan Choudhury, May 23, 2022

The Australian upstream industry meet this week for its key annual gathering, with discussions dominated by attempts to remain relevant in a world aiming to undergo an energy transition to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

Delegates spent more time than usual at the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) 2022 conference in Brisbane, Queensland discussing topics such as producing hydrogen from gas and adding carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) capacity to future oil, gas and hydrogen projects, while still largely focused on discussing new oil and gas projects.

The industry body that represents Australian oil and gas producers has appointed a new chief executive Samantha McCulloch who heads the IEA’s CCUS unit, signalling Australia’s upstream sector is going to have to be more serious about reducing its GHG emissions.

“Samantha is an internationally acclaimed expert in carbon capture, utilisation and storage, a technology that is critical to the world achieve its climate goals,” Appea board chairman Ian Davies said in his closing speech of the Appea conference on 19 May.

Future government policy will be dictated by the outcome of Australia’s federal election on 21 May. The main opposition Labor party has a deeper GHG emissions cut of 43pc by 2030 from 2005 levels compared with the current Liberal-National coalition government’s target of 26-28pc over the same period.

Deeper emissions cuts will affect the energy sector, which accounts for more than 75pc of Australia’s total emissions through burning coal and gas for producing electricity, consuming oil products in transportation, fugitive emissions associated with coal and gas extraction and the energy used in the manufacturing process, as well as the heating of homes and businesses.

“Meeting Australia’s and the world’s demand for energy, affordably and reliably must occur at the same time as we invest in the huge task of decarbonising our energy system to net zero emissions by 2050,” Davies said.

The role the oil and gas industry plays in 2022 will look different by 2050, he said. As the sector will play a much greater firming role in the electricity grid to back up renewable energy, provide feedstock to hydrogen producers and deliver low-emissions energy with CCUS.

Another obstacle to the sector is access to finance, as banks and other lenders come under pressure to reduce their financing of fossil fuel production to meet GHG emissions targets and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) mandates.

Upstream firms are facing tighter lending requirements from banks because of ESG, MST Marquee senior research analyst Mark Samter told Appea, citing the 80,000 b/d Pikka oil project in Alaska that is operated by Australian independent Santos. Banks no longer want to be associated with lending to an oil project located in an environmentally-sensitive area.

“Ten years ago Santos would have had no problem getting finance for a project like Pikka, but that is not the case today,” Samter said.

Argus by Kevin Morrison, 20 May, 2022

B.C.’s clean LNG touted as important decarbonization tool, and economic tool in reconciliation with First Nations.

The first Canada Gas and LNG conference to take place in person in three years kicked off today at the Vancouver Convention Centre with a low-key demonstration from environmentalists and a recap of LNG projects underway or proposed in Canada, including two in which First Nations would be owners or major partners.

The projects range from a small operator – Cryopeak – that supplies liquefied natural gas (LNG) to mines and remote communities, to a new project in Newfoundland, LNG NL, that proposes to source natural gas from the Jeanne d’Arc Basin near the Hibernia oil fields, and pipeline it to Grassy Point Newfoundland for liquefaction and export it to Europe.

The project could also see a second pipeline built to return CO2 captured at Grassy Point back to the Jeanne d’Arc Basin for deep sea sequestration.

The Canadian LNG industry has taken a back seat to the U.S., which has dramatically eclipsed Canada as a major LNG producer. But there was some sense Tuesday at the three-day conference that the Canadian natural gas and LNG sectors could be having a moment, thanks to an energy crisis in Europe, exacerbated by war, which has underscored the importance of natural gas in energy security and the energy transition.

Anyone looking at gasoline prices today may be suddenly thinking about energy and energy security, said Bryan Cox, president of the Canadian LNG Alliance.

“We’re starting to feel that, and we’re starting to think about energy in a whole different way,” Cox said.

In a press release, Stand, Dogwood and the Wilderness Committee accused Bruce Ralston, minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, of “peddling myths about clean LNG.”

“In reality, pumping more super-polluting methane gas out of the ground will prevent B.C. from meeting its climate targets and condemn all of us to more deadly extreme weather,” Dogwood campaigner Alexandra Woodsworth said in a press release.

But independent studies, including from St. Xavier University, have confirmed that the natural gas produced in Northeast B.C. has some of the lowest GHG intensities anywhere, partly due to low methane leakage, and a number of LNG projects in B.C. propose to use electric drive, which would make it, again, some of the lowest intensity LNG produced anywhere.

“Right now, today, people are building new coal-fired power plants in Asia,” said Jason Klein, the new CEO of LNG Canada, which is building a $17-billion plant in Kitimat.

“This industry has the opportunity to displace that coal with natural gas…and we have some of the cleanest LNG in the world. LNG Canada, when it’s in operation, will be the lowest GHG intensity of any currently operating LNG plants. It’s 35% lower greenhouse gas intensity of any facility operating today, and 60% lower than the global weighted average.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says switching from coal power to natural gas could reduce GHGs emission by 50%, provided fugitive methane emissions are managed. This has proven true in the U.S., which has achieved some of the most dramatic decreases in GHGs from the power sector in the western world, thanks largely to fuel switching from coal to gas.

“With our CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, we continue to demonstrate we are one of, if not the most, responsible natural gas producing jurisdiction in the world,” said Ralston. “We are bringing forward stronger targets to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 75% by 2030, and nearly eliminate all industrial methane emissions by 2035.”

B.C.’s natural gas and LNG not only would be some of the cleanest in the world, it also could be the springboard for the next generation of even cleaner fuel – hydrogen. Hydrogen can be produced from natural gas, and some of the pipeline infrastructure and export terminals could eventually be used to transport hydrogen.

“Hydrogen alone has the potential to reduce the province’s emissions by 30% of the 2050 Clean BC target,” Ralston said.

The biggest LNG project in B.C. that’s under construction is the $18-billion LNG Canada project. Next in line is the smaller $1.6-billion Woodfibre LNG project in Squamish, which just recently got the notice to proceed.

FortisBC is working on an expansion of its Tilbury LNG plant, and two First Nations are partnered with oil and gas industry players on two new projects – the Haisla’s Cedar LNG and the Nisga’a-backed Ksi Lisims LNG project.

“Were going to be the largest First Nations investment in Canadian history,” Haisla Chief Crystal Smith said of the $3-billion Cedar LNG project, which is currently in an environmental review process.

Paul Sullivan, senior vice president of Global LNG for Worley, said a 40-year-old natural gas and LNG business model in Europe has been “shredded” overnight by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said European leaders are now deeply concerned about the cost of energy, and now asking themselves if they can afford to dispense with coal.

He said Canada is blessed with a “massive amount of natural resources, including natural gas.” The question for Canada is whether it is willing to share those resources with countries trying to secure supplies of low carbon energy.

The first LNG facility built in B.C. has been around for quite some time – the FortisBC Tilbury Island plant, which originally produced LNG as a backup for pipeline gas. It has expanded its production capacity to start supplying LNG as a transportation fuel for both trucking and the marine sector. Some LNG produced there has been shipped to Asia in ISO containers.

Because it is largely powered with clean BC Hydro power, the LNG it produces is 30% less carbon intensive than LNG produced elsewhere in the world, said FortisBC CEO Roger Dall’Antonia.

“That’s a massive advantage, when you think about a premium low-carbon LNG product, Canada’s leading the way on that front,” he said.

FortisBC plans to expand its Tilbury plant, with an additional storage tank, additional liquefaction and a new marine terminal for marine LNG bunkering.

FortisBC has also been investing in renewable natural gas (RNG), which when blended with natural gas lowers its emissions intensity even more. Dall’Antonia said Tilbury LNG could reduce GHGs from shipping in B.C. by 27%, compared to other marine fuels.

In addition to providing a possible new source of low carbon energy to Asia and Europe, the nascent LNG sector in B.C. is also proving an important economic tool in reconciliation with First Nations.

Despite what some news headlines might suggest, the fact is a number of LNG projects are wholeheartedly supported by First Nations. Sixteen along the Coastal GasLink pipeline corridor have signed option agreements to take up to a 10% equity stake in the pipeline, and the Haisla First Nation has leveraged its partnerships with the LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink to proposed their own LNG project – Cedar LNG.

The Nisga’a First Nation are also partnered up with Alberta oil and gas producers on the Ksi Lisims LNG project.

Vancouver Is Awesome by Nelson Bennett, May 13, 2022

A project is getting underway to explore the feasibility of converting product tankers to shore-based power in ports. As chemical tankers are required to comply with higher safety standards than many other types of vessels, the project is viewed as significant in ports’ efforts to expand the use of cold-ironing as the ports work to meet new environmental regulations. 

While other segments of the shipping industry have been exploring the use of shore power, so far its application has been applied mostly to cruise ships and ferries as well as some general cargo ships. Recently a few ports have begun to study the expansion, for example in Sweden and the Port of Gothenburg which supported the first tanker to use battery power for in-port navigation and shore power while on dock.

The latest program exploring shore power for chemical tankers is launching at the Port of Rotterdam. Stolt Tankers signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Vopak Botlek to conduct a six-month feasibility study for the use of shore-based power for chemical tankers calling at Vopak’s Botlek terminal.

As chemical tankers are required to comply with higher safety standards than many other types of vessels, Stolt believes the results of the study will be important for the whole chemical tanker industry.

“We have identified several ships with the potential to take part in the trial, which if successful will also present opportunities for our ships calling at ports to plug into power from renewable sources,” said Lucas Vos, President of Stolt Tankers. The goal is while in port to have ships be able to switch off their diesel generators and connect to onshore power, potentially from renewable sources.

The project poses several significant technical hurdles, which make it unique, according to the partners. The feasibility study aims to discover effective solutions to these challenges that can be used to form the basis of an agreed international standard.

The installation of shore-based power for chemical tankers will only be a viable solution if the industry can agree on a single standard says Stolt. Shipowners will need confirmation that their ships can safely and reliably connect to shore power in multiple ports before investing in the necessary ship adjustments, which is why it is essential to design a standardized industry solution in partnership with other leading organizations.

“The availability of shore-based power for our ships has the potential to greatly reduce the use of onboard diesel generators while ships are in port, resulting in a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Vos. “This supports Stolt Tankers’ ambition to reduce its GHG emissions intensity by at least 50 percent by 2030 compared to 2008 levels.

Late in 2021, Stolt Tankers highlighted that it had already reduced its fuel consumption and the resulting CO2 emissions by six percent compared to 2020. Stolt achieved the savings in bunker consumption by improving operational and technical efficiencies and fleet optimization. Speed and trim were optimized according to weather conditions and enhanced maintenance programs, including additional hull and propeller cleaning, which also reduced fuel use. In addition, on several ships, Stolt also installed advanced power-saving propeller fins.

Industry providers of shore power equipment reported in the past few years a resurgence in demand as more ports look to install the connections required to provide shore power. In some ports, for example PortMiami, the implementation of shore power has been slowed by the lack of infrastructure to link the port to the power grid and the power generation capabilities. By

By The Maritime Executive, May 9, 2022