Woodside sees LNG prospects from iron ore fuel switch
Australian independent Woodside Petroleum said a 4mn t/yr LNG market could be created if all of iron ore producers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA) switch their iron ore carriers to LNG from bunker fuel.
Woodside is also considering submitting a bid to the tender by UK-Australian resources firm BHP for shipping around 27mn t/yr of iron ore on LNG-fuelled carriers starting from 2021, Woodside chief operations officer Meg O'Neill said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia in Perth. This tender will no doubt be hotly contested, O'Neill said. "Woodside has already been working towards this for some time. We took delivery of our own LNG-fuelled marine support vessel the Siem Thiima in 2017 and have been preparing the infrastructure to enable LNG fuelling of bulk carriers at their home port."
These LNG-fuelled ships will deliver to many ports across northeast Asia but they will always come home to the Pilbara, which is also home to significant LNG production, O'Neill said. Around 95pc of Australia's iron ore exports come from Western Australia that totalled 835mn t in 2018.
"It is potentially a very significant new market and would create a new industry in Western Australia that could grow to a fleet of bunker vessels," O'Neill said.
Woodside has been working with Australia's three largest iron ore exporters UK-Australian resources firms Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue Metals to develop vessels that can be fuelled by LNG.
The plans for a LNG-fuelled iron ore carrier come as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) prepares to cap sulphur content in bunker fuel at 0.5pc in January 2020 from the current 3.5pc. To comply with the new regulation, tankers will have to burn low-sulphur fuels — including marine gasoil or LNG — or install abatement technology, such as scrubbers, to continue to use high-sulphur fuel oil.
BHP forecasts that the new IMO rules will add $2-3/t for shipping iron ore from WA to China and $4-5/t for iron ore freight from Brazil to China.
Woodside and BHP are also partners in the 7.3 trillion ft³ (207bn m³) Scarborough field offshore WA, with the gas from the field to be used as feedstock for a second LNG train at the 4.3mn t/yr Pluto LNG.
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CEE gas operators begin binding capacity offer process
CEE gas operators begin binding capacity offer process
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Shell's 1Q profit supported by LNG and refining
Shell's 1Q profit supported by LNG and refining
London, 2 May (Argus) — Shell delivered a better-than-expected profit for the first quarter of 2024, helped by a strong performance from its LNG and oil product businesses. The company reported profit of $7.4bn for January-March, up sharply from an impairment-hit $474mn in the previous three months but down from $8.7bn in the first quarter of 2023. Adjusted for inventory valuation effects and one-off items, Shell's profit came in at $7.7bn, 6pc ahead of the preceding three months and above analysts' estimates of $6.3bn-$6.5bn, although it was 20pc lower than the first quarter of 2023 when gas prices were higher. Shell's oil and gas production increased by 3pc on the quarter in January-March and was broadly flat compared with a year earlier at 2.91mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d). For the current quarter, Shell expects production in a range of 2.55mn-2.81mn boe/d, reflecting the effect of scheduled maintenance across its portfolio. The company's Integrated Gas segment delivered a profit of $2.76bn in the first quarter, up from $1.73bn in the previous three months and $2.41bn a year earlier. The segment benefited from increased LNG volumes — 7.58mn t compared to 7.06mn t in the previous quarter and 7.19mn t a year earlier — as well as favourable deferred tax movements and lower operating expenses. For the current quarter, Shell expects to produce 6.8mn-7.4mn t of LNG. In the downstream, the company's Chemicals and Products segment swung to a profit of $1.16bn during the quarter from an impairment-driven loss of $1.83bn in the previous three months, supported by a strong contribution from oil trading operations and higher refining margins driven by greater utilisation of its refineries and global supply disruptions. Shell's refinery throughput increased to 1.43mn b/d in the first quarter from 1.32mn b/d in fourth quarter of last year and 1.41mn b/d in January-March 2023. Shell has maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.344/share. It also said it has completed the $3.5bn programme of share repurchases that it announced at its previous set of results and plans to buy back another $3.5bn of its shares before the company's next quarterly results announcement. The company said it expects its capital spending for the year to be within a $22bn-$25bn range. By Jon Mainwaring Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan's trading firms see metals prices cutting profits
Japan's trading firms see metals prices cutting profits
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Evion-Metachem Indian project starts producing graphite
Evion-Metachem Indian project starts producing graphite
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