Australia’s APA advances gas pipeline network expansion

Spanish Market: Natural gas
22/10/26

Australian gas pipeline operator APA will go ahead with stage 3B of the East Coast Gas Grid (ECGG) expansion, it said today. The project is set to boost eastern Australia's north-to-south gas transport capacity by about 30pc when the works are completed.

APA will commit A$700mn ($491mn) to construct and commission the Bulloo Interlink Pipeline (BIL), an 800 TJ/d connection to join APA's 512 TJ/d (13.7mn m³/d) South West Queensland Pipeline (SWQP) in Queensland to the 590 TJ/d Moomba to Sydney Pipeline (MSP) in New South Wales (NSW).

At present, Queensland's gas must transit via the Moomba hub in South Australia state before entering the southern states' supply.

The final investment decision (FID) comes after APA in February agreed to undertake ECGG expansion 3A, building new compressors and conducting debottlenecking works on the SWQP and the MSP. It also allocated A$220mn for ECGG 3B to buy pipe and progress a works programme.

Construction of the 340km BIL will start early next year ahead of first commercial operations in winter 2029, APA said on 22 October, meaning it is likely to start operations in the April-June or July-September quarters of that year.

Stage 3A of the ECGG expansion remains on track for delivery in winter 2028.

The FID is supported by a five-year, take-or-pay, inflation-linked gas transport and storage agreement with Australia utility Origin Energy for ECGG services.

The BIL is critical to energy security in Australia's east, APA chief executive Adam Watson said, adding that unlocking northern gas supply and expanding existing pipelines will push out projected shortfalls in southern markets into the 2030s.

Australia is planning a 20pc domestic supply obligation, controlling LNG exports in a bid to oversupply its domestic market by about 110pc to lower prices. But despite a draft bill introduced to parliament by the Labor government, the final outcome will hinge on negotiations in the nation's senate.

Australia's south could be supplied by imported LNG, supported by several proposed and one completed terminal. But Canberra appears to prefer piped gas, with possible federal funding for new pipelines to bring gas to the south from the Northern Territory.

By Tom Major

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22/10/26

EU parliament wants three-year delay to methane law

Brussels, 22 October (Argus) — The European Parliament today called for a three-year delay to monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) obligations for importers under the EU's 2024 methane emissions regulation (MER), after the European Commission earlier this month proposed a one-year postponement. Parliament voted by a clear majority of 341 votes in favour, 225 against and six abstentions, signalling strong support for the three-year delay when negotiations on the final legal text start with EU member states. If adopted into law, parliament's proposal would also give crude, natural gas and coal importers until 31 May 2031 to ensure their supply contracts meet EU-equivalent MRV standards. EU producers and importers would also be required to report the methane intensity of their fossil fuels sold on the EU market by 5 August 2031, rather than by 5 August 2029 as earlier proposed by the commission. Parliament does not want to extend the proposed delay to imports from countries under EU sanctions. Parliament adopted its position under an urgency procedure. If no legal text is formally adopted before the end of 2026, MRV rules would automatically apply from 1 January 2027 for oil, gas and coal importers. Earlier this month, EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen urged parliament and EU member states not to make " other " demands for changes to the regulation. The three-year delay is an "absolute scandal", said German Green MEP Jutta Paulus, parliament's lead negotiator on the 2024 methane regulation. "It is utterly incomprehensible that, in the midst of an energy price crisis, gas should be needlessly flared or allowed to vent into the atmosphere," Paulus said. Oil and gas producers' association IOGP Europe called on EU states to follow parliament's lead and ensure a level playing field for domestic producers. A "rigid" one-year delay, as proposed by the commission, would only bring the industry back to the same situation 12 months later, IOGP said. Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Algeria cuts gas pipeline flows to Spain

21/10/26

Algeria cuts gas pipeline flows to Spain

London, 21 October (Argus) — Algeria has cut pipeline flows to Spain by around a third so far this month, prompting Spanish firms to boost LNG imports. Inflows at the Almeria entry point have averaged 211 GWh/d in October, down from 322 GWh/d across the rest of 2026 and 324 GWh/d in October last year. Monthly averages have not fallen below 300 GWh/d this year, except in September when maintenance on the Medgaz pipeline halted all flows on 18-21 September. Flows outside that period in September averaged 315 GWh/d. The cause of the drop is unclear. Medgaz's 2026 maintenance schedule, published in January, lists works in October but does not indicate any capacity reduction. The October maintenance cites "TK20 OVH" at "BSCS", which could mean an overhaul at the Beni Saf compressor station, which pressurises gas before transit to Spain. The operator issued notices of full flow stoppages before September works this year. Increased Algerian LNG output suggests upstream maintenance or higher domestic demand are unlikely to be behind the lower pipeline exports. Algeria has exported 729,768t of LNG so far this month, the highest this year apart from May, according to Kpler ship-tracking data. That is below the 1.03mn t exported in October last year, but loadings at the current pace would exceed that figure by the end of the month. Spain has compensated for the lower pipeline supply with additional LNG deliveries. It has imported 1.22mn t so far this month — the most since May but below the 1.62mn t received in October 2025. At the current rate, October imports would exceed last year's total for the month. As of Wednesday afternoon, three more cargoes were indicating arrival before month-end. Algeria supplied part of that increase. Three full-size Algerian cargoes totalling 214,671t have been delivered to Spanish terminals so far this month, the most this year but below the 254,149t delivered in October 2025. By Maxim Krukov Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

New climate plans will not reach Paris targets: Unep

21/10/26

New climate plans will not reach Paris targets: Unep

London, 21 October (Argus) — Countries have submitted more than 100 new climate plans in the past year, but these will not deliver the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cuts required to reach global warming limits set out in the Paris climate agreement, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) said today in its Emissions Gap 2026 report. If current policies continue, there is a 66pc chance that global warming will reach 2.8°C by 2100, and increase after that, Unep found. The most optimistic scenario would limit warming to 2.1°C this century, but it relies on all climate plans — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — being achieved and "similar efforts maintained", Unep said. The Paris agreement seeks to curb the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursues a 1.5°C limit. A total of 124 countries, accounting for around 76pc of global GHG emissions, had submitted new NDCs as of 1 September, Unep said. This is up from 57 submissions covering 63pc of global emissions last year. The most recent round of NDCs would only cut global GHG emissions to 5-8pc below 2025 levels by 2030, Unep said. They would reduce GHGs by 11-15pc by 2035 and by 20-27pc by 2040, from the 2025 baseline, it added. The range refers to the conditionality of the NDCs — whether countries will implement the plans with no outside help or whether they need external technical and financial support. There is a "large and expanding emissions gap" of 5bn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2030 and of 16bn t/CO2e in 2035 between the "full implementation of current conditional and unconditional NDCs and the lowest 1.5°C overshoot scenario", Unep said. The emissions gap refers to the distance between projected emissions from countries' NDCs and the reduction needed to hit Paris agreement goals. The gaps are 1bn t/CO2e and 5bn t/CO2e for 2030 and 2035, respectively, between NDCs and the "below 2°C scenario", Unep found. The gaps are wider if only unconditional NDCs are put into practice. But, owed to "decades of insufficient climate action", the world will overshoot the 1.5°C Paris goal , Unep said. "The opportunity to bridge the 1.5°C emissions gap with ‘no or limited' overshoot has been lost", it added. Unep cautioned that the emissions gaps outlined in this year's report "are not directly comparable with last year's report, which was benchmarked against scenarios that are now unachievable". There is an "unbridgeable gap" of 9bn t/CO2e between the lowest "overshoot" scenario and the level of emissions that would have met a 1.5°C target, it said. Global GHG emissions in 2025 stood at 58.4bn t/CO2e, with a range of 5.5bn t, preliminary data show, Unep said. This may be a decline on the year of 100mn t, but the "high uncertainty range" makes this difficult to conclude, Unep said. It does diverge from a decade-long trend of global emissions growth of 0.8pc/yr, Unep added. But CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion rose in 2025, with estimates ranging from an increase of between 0.4pc to 1.1pc on the year, Unep said. Countries agreed at the UN Cop 28 climate summit in 2023 to "transition away" from fossil fuels in energy systems. "Progress in transitioning away from fossil fuels and other emissions-intensive activities is lagging particularly far behind", Unep said. It expects the use of oil and gas to continue to increase this decade, but noted that "the implementation of current policies is set to trigger a peak and decline in coal before 2030". By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

UK approves North Sea Jackdaw gas development

21/10/26

UK approves North Sea Jackdaw gas development

London, 21 October (Argus) — The UK government has approved development of the Jackdaw gas field, one of two North Sea projects ruled unlawful in Scotland in 2025. Consent has been given by UK oil and gas regulator NSTA to Jackdaw's owners Adura, a Shell-Equinor joint venture. The government said Jackdaw will begin production at the end of this month, and at peak the field will increase domestic gas production by around 6pc. Shell had projected peak output at 4.85mn m³/d of gas and around 7,500 b/d of condensate. The field will be tied back to the Shearwater platform for onward movement through the Fulmar Gas Line and the Forties Pipeline System. Development of Jackdaw was delayed by a Scottish court ruling in January 2025 that consent granted previously, for Jackdaw and the Rosebank oil field, was unlawful because it did not consider the scope 3 emissions caused by end users burning the fields' oil and gas. Scope 3 emissions typically make up between 85pc and 95pc of an oil and gas company's total emissions. The Scottish court ruling allowed the UK government to make a new decision, taking into account downstream emissions, which Shell puts at a maximum 35.82mn t CO2 equivalent (CO2e), and a likely 23.6mn t CO2e. The government said approval will not prevent the UK from being able to meet its climate goals , which was a core argument from environmental groups opposed to development of Jackdaw and Rosebank. Non-profit Greenpeace today said subsequent approval of Rosebank would "detonate an even bigger "carbon bomb". Rosebank's developer, Norwegian state-controlled Equinor, has said it expects London to approve the project. The UK government also today said it will establish an Energy Wealth Fund, which will use tax revenues from North Sea oil and gas to invest in low carbon and renewable energy projects. The government will inject an initial £2bn ($2.7bn) into the fund. UK union Unite welcomed the government's decision to approve the Jackdaw field. "Now we urgently need to use that and invest in industries like wind turbine manufacture and refining green jet fuel," the union general secretary Sharon Graham said. "We simply cannot let go of one rope until we have hold of another," she added. By Ben Winkley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Fremsyn secures funding for Danish biomethane expansion

20/10/26

Fremsyn secures funding for Danish biomethane expansion

London, 20 October (Argus) — Danish biogas company Fremsyn is buying and expanding a biogas plant in Vegger, northern Denmark, with biomethane deliveries from the facility expected to reach up to 48 GWh/yr by the end of 2027 under a long-term supply agreement with a Swiss customer. Fremsyn will modernise Denmark's oldest biogas plant, with biogas production to increase to 52 GWh/yr from 37 GWh/yr. The company will also build an upgrading facility to produce biomethane and a new grid connection. The Vegger plant currently uses a mixed feedstock of mostly manure — 75pc — with waste and energy crops. The project will include a carbon capture unit with capacity of 5,000 t/yr CO2, and an electrolyser to convert the captured CO2 into e-methane using hydrogen. The full project is expected to be complete in 2028. International bank Nordic Environment Finance Corporation is paying for the project with a €6mn ($6.74mn) financing agreement. Fremsyn's trading arm Biogem will receive the financing and certify the biomethane with renewable gas guarantees of origin. By Kasia Donnell Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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