Working gas injections begin at Bergermeer

Spanish Market: Natural gas
16/04/14

One customer has begun injecting working gas volumes at the Netherlands' new Bergermeer storage facility.

Abu Dhabi’s state-controlled energy firm Taqa said today that "preliminary commercial operations" had begun at the Dutch site, with one customer able to make injections of up to 72 GWh/d since 10 April, which should rise to 240 GWh/d from 21 April. But the company said that compressors are only injecting gas into five wells, with the remaining nine wells to become operational next year.

Taqa said that commercial injection and withdrawals will become commercially available to Bergermeer's other customers by April 2015, when the facility is expected to become fully operational. In the meantime, Bergemeer will continue to undergo further testing this summer. But the customer making injections this summer will be able use withdrawal capacity sometime during winter 2014-15.

Taqa has already sold all of Bergermeer's long term capacity — the facility's launch customers included Norway's Statoil, Sweden's Vattenfall and a third, anonymous European energy company. Russia's Gazprom also holds capacity at Bergermeer, providing the site's 4.3bn m³ of cushion gas in return for almost half of the site's capacity, although it is not on the list of 12 companies that have signed service agreements with the storage operator.

A mild winter and weak demand outlook has left Europe with a substantial oversupply of gas, and helped drive near-curve prices well below contracts delivering further forward. The contango is steep enough to offer an incentive to defer production or to take multi-year storage positions this summer.

jr/gb

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19/12/25

Trinidad not part of US blockade of Venezuela: PM

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W Australia's gas surplus outlook strengthens: Aemo

19/12/25

W Australia's gas surplus outlook strengthens: Aemo

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Energy Transfer halts plans for Lake Charles LNG

18/12/25

Energy Transfer halts plans for Lake Charles LNG

Houston, 18 December (Argus) — US midstream firm Energy Transfer is suspending development of its planned 16.5mn t/yr (2.2 Bcf/d) Lake Charles LNG export terminal in Louisiana to focus on natural gas pipeline expansions, the company said today. The pivot allows the company to reallocate capital to gas pipeline projects that provide "superior risk/return profiles", Energy Transfer said. The company separately said it will increase the capacity of its planned Desert Southwest expansion of the Transwestern pipeline, allowing it to move more gas from west Texas' Permian basin to the southwestern US. The decision to scrap Lake Charles LNG follows a month of dissonance from company executives about moving forward with the facility. Energy Transfer co-chief executive Mackie McCrea told investors in early November that the company would not be able to reach a final investment decision (FID) until it sold off 80pc of equity shares in the project. But Amy Chen Davis, vice president of Lake Charles LNG, told an industry event on 10 December that the company was in talks with potential partners and would reach a final decision in early 2026. The company said earlier this year it planned an FID by the end of 2025. The midstream firm has sought for years to convert the existing Lake Charles import facility into an export terminal. Shell signed on with a 50pc stake in 2019 but pulled out the following year as part of cost-cutting measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. McCrea had signaled to investors that the company was being cautious with entering the LNG export industry. "When you're chasing billions of dollars in projects, several of which we've already announced, we've got to be careful stepping out on something like this," McCrea said on 5 November. "We're not an LNG company like we compete with. We're a pipeline company that has a regas facility converting part of it to LNG." Investor MidOcean Energy had signed a preliminary agreement to fund 30pc of Lake Charles LNG's construction costs in exchange for 30pc of offtake, but the firms never finalized the deal. Suspension of the project also may set back the efforts of Saudi Aramco, which holds a 49pc stake in MidOcean, to develop an LNG portfolio. MidOcean has a share in Peru's 4.45mn t/yr Pampa Melchorita LNG export plant and the Shell-led 14mn t/yr LNG Canada export terminal in British Columbia. Pipeline project in focus Meanwhile, Energy Transfer said it will upsize capacity on the Desert Southwest expansion. The company said it will increase the expansion's capacity by 800mn cf/d to 2.3 Bcf/d to satisfy additional demand in the southwestern US. Energy Transfer reached an FID on Desert Southwest in August. The expansion is one of several projects working to increase gas transportation capacity out of the Permian, where a steady increase in crude-driven activity — and commensurate rise in associated gas output — has outpaced the increase in gas takeaway capacity. This has created a local gas supply glut and some of the lowest gas prices in the US. By Tray Swanson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US House passes bill to expedite permitting

18/12/25

US House passes bill to expedite permitting

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Ithaca first to try new UK North Sea regime

18/12/25

Ithaca first to try new UK North Sea regime

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