TotalEnergies ends Papua LNG rebid phase: Correction

: Natural gas
25/12/12

Corrects headline and 'FID' to 'development forum' in last paragraph

New engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract offers have been received for the proposed 5.6mn t/yr Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea (PNG), operator TotalEnergies said, following extensive design revisions for the delayed development.

The firm is concluding the rebid phase after receiving new offers at reasonable costs, managing director of TotalEnergies EP PNG Arnaud Berthet told the PNG Resources and Energy Investment Conference in Sydney on 10 December.

TotalEnergies relaunched EPC tendering late last year after previously estimated costs were considered too high for the project to proceed.

The company expanded the contractor pool to include Chinese firms and reduced the gas pipeline diameter to 30 inches from 40 inches.

This change increased the number of vessels able to perform pipelay, Berthet said, increasing competition, while it also routed the condensate pipeline west to a new floating storage and offloading vessel, reducing pipeline length.

A development forum is planned for January-March next year, a legal requirement ahead of a final investment decision, which JV partner Australian independent Santos has previously signalled is likely in early 2026. LNG sales and purchase agreements are under negotiation, and seven export credit agencies along with more than 30 commercial banks are interested in financing the project, Berthet said.

By Tom Major

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25/12/12

Australia’s Beetaloo reaches FID on shale gas pilot

Sydney, 12 December (Argus) — Australian shale gas developer Beetaloo Energy has made a final investment decision to build its 25 TJ/d (668,000 m³/d) Carpentaria pilot project in the Beetaloo subbasin in Australia's Northern Territory (NT), ahead of first gas targeted for mid-2026. Civil construction and upgrade works on the Carpentaria plant have already started, chief executive Alex Underwood said on 11 December, which involves the tie-in of up to 10 wells located in exploration permit 187. The decision comes after the firm this week received NT government approval to sell appraisal gas from Carpentaria. This is the second pilot project to reach FID in the untapped shale gas basin after Tamboran Resources' 40 TJ/d Shenandoah South pilot project, also targeting first appraisal gas in mid-2026. The NT government has agreed to purchase the entirety of gas from both projects via an ex-field take-or-pay basis, to supply government-owned Power and Water Corporation. If the basin's reserves prove economically viable Tamboran is eyeing LNG exports in the longer-term, potentially via Australian independent Santos' Darwin LNG project . By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Aramco says Jafurah gas project still in commissioning

25/12/11

Aramco says Jafurah gas project still in commissioning

Dubai, 11 December (Argus) — Saudi state-controlled Aramco has begun to commission the first phase of its giant Jafurah natural gas project, but is yet to begin full commercial operations, according to the company's executive vice president of gas Abdulkarim Al-Ghamdi. This contradicts an earlier statement from the country's finance ministry. "Jafurah… we started the commissioning last week," Al-Ghamdi told the Middle East Gas Conference in Dubai on Wednesday. "And that will be commissioned fully now, for production, before year-end." The phase is "on schedule" and "in advanced commissioning", he said. Al-Ghamdi's comments are the first from Aramco since the Saudi finance ministry said production at Jafurah had begun. In its 2026 budget released last week the ministry listed "completion of the first phase of the Jafurah gas plant construction and commencement of production with a capacity of 450mn ft³/d," as one of the country's achievements for 2025. It did not specify a date for the start. Aramco did not make its own start-up announcement, something it would typically do for a project of its size and importance, and Al-Ghamdi's comments suggest it is because the start-up has not yet have happened. A source close to the project said a formal Aramco announcement regarding Jafurah is likely "soon" ꟷ probably before the end of the year when commissioning is complete, as per Al-Ghamdi's comments. With in-place reserves of 229 trillion ft³ (6.87 trillion m³) of raw gas and 75bn bl of condensate, Jafurah is the largest unconventional gas field in the Mideast Gulf, and constitutes a major pillar of Aramco's ambitious gas expansion plans. The 450mn ft³/d rate referenced by the ministry was also 2½ times the rate at which Aramco had long been saying output would begin. Aramco's plan has long been to begin producing from phase 1 at a rate of 200mn ft³/d, rising to 650mn ft³/d by the end of 2026. A second phase, which is scheduled to come on stream in 2027, would then gradually lift production to 2bn ft³/d by the end of the decade. It constitutes part of an ambitious Aramco programme to expand gas production by more than 80pc by the end of the decade, relative to a 2021 baseline of 9.2bn ft³/d. This implies output of at least 16.6bn ft³/d by 2030, with Jafurah delivering just over one-quarter of the increase. Jafurah will also produce about 420mn ft³/d of ethane, and 630,000 b/d of NGLs and condensate as by-products by 2030. Traders told Argus last week that Aramco has offered spot Jafurah condensate for loading in February. Market sources say Jafurah condensate has an API gravity of 49.75° and sulphur content of 0.16pc. The ethane and NGLs will be sent to the Riyas fractionation plant, which is being built as part of the phase two development. The condensate will be sent to the Juaymah terminal, where Aramco is expanding its storage and export facilities. By Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

German cabinet passes EU RED III

25/12/10

German cabinet passes EU RED III

Hamburg, 10 December (Argus) — The German cabinet on 10 December approved legislation to implement the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) into national law. This will adjust the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction quota and abolish double counting of advanced fuels from 2026. But it is unlikely to pass remaining legislative processes in time for the EU's 1 January deadline. The bill passed by the cabinet largely follows a draft dated 29 October that was leaked in November. The overall quota level will rise to 59pc by 2040. Aviation and marine fuels are exempt from the quota obligation. The law will end the eligibility of palm oil products, most notably palm oil mill effluent (Pome), for compliance towards the GHG quota. This exclusion, and a requirement for fuel producers to allow on-site audits, will not come into effect until 2027, leaving 2026 as a transitional year. The end of double counting for advanced biofuels removes a key point of market uncertainty. Under current rules, advanced biofuels can be counted as twice their energy value towards the GHG quota, provided the minimum sub-mandate for advanced fuels has been met. But the change to end double counting will apply to the entire compliance year and all subsequent years, meaning it will be retroactive to 1 January. The only exception is for fuels supplied prior to 1 January 2026. The law will enter into force on the second day after publication in the Federal Law Gazette, with selected sections taking effect a day earlier for procedural reasons. Before that can happen, the bill must be submitted to the Germany's lower and upper parliaments for debate. The lower house's approval is not required, and the upper house could initiate changes. The bill can only be submitted to the Federal President for his signature once the upper house has given approval. This process is likely to conclude in the first quarter of 2026. Changes to sub-quotas, RFNBOs, biomethane The sub-mandate for advanced biofuels, made from feedstocks listed in Annex IX of RED III, will rise to 9pc by 2040. The mandate for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) — such as e-fuels and green hydrogen — is higher will rise to 2.5pc of an obligated company's energy mix in 2034, and then to 8pc in 2040. The penalty for non-compliance is €120/GJ. Imported biomethane can be counted towards the GHG quota, provided it meets certain conditions, such as a connection to the EU gas grid. The baseline emissions value is 94kg CO2e/GJ, aligned with the rest of the EU. The registration deadline with the main customs office is 1 June. The market for GHG certificates reacted immediately. Other certificates for 2025 are trading around €20/t CO2e higher than the previous day, and prices for 2026 certificates are rising. Prices for 2025 certificates are rising, although they are unaffected by the change. They are seen as a substitute for 2027 certificates because excess 2025 compliance will be carried over. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) could now play a central role in meeting the GHG quota, which can influence certificate prices. Demand for advanced HVO could increase significantly, as it can be counted without limit towards the GHG quota as a blending component and as a pure fuel and can be used in most of the existing diesel vehicle fleet. The end of double counting could increase demand for non-advanced biodiesel grades, such as rapeseed-based RME and used cooking oil-based Ucome. Although the eligibility of these is capped to a certain percentage of a company's energy mix, this limit has not always been fully utilised in the past. by Max Steinhau and Chloe Jardine Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan’s Hokkaido approves Tomari nuclear restart

25/12/10

Japan’s Hokkaido approves Tomari nuclear restart

Osaka, 10 December (Argus) — Japan's Hokkaido prefecture has approved the restart of Hokkaido Electric Power's (Hepco) Tomari nuclear power plant, removing the final hurdle to restarting the first reactor in the northernmost prefecture since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Hokkaido governor Naomichi Suzuki officially approved the restart of the 912MW Tomari No.3 reactor on 10 December, nearly two weeks after stating on 28 November that the use of nuclear power remains a practical option for the time being. His decision was supported by four local authorities — Tomari village, Kyowa town, Iwanai town and Kamoenai village — whose consent is also required to resume operations at the Tomari plant. Approval from local governments is essential before any nuclear reactor restart in Japan, even when reactors meet stricter safety standards designed to prevent a repeat of the Fukushima-Daiichi reactor meltdown following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The approval means the Tomari No.3 reactor is likely to restart once reinforcement work is completed, as the unit already received a safety clearance from Japan's nuclear regulation authority (NRA) in July. Hepco hopes to restart the reactor as early as possible in 2027. The Tomari plant is Hepco's sole nuclear facility, comprising the 579MW No.1 and No.2 reactors in addition to No.3 unit. The No.1 and No.2 reactors are still undergoing the NRA safety inspections. Hepco has been without nuclear power since May 2012, relying on thermal generation instead, which has increased costs. The utility consumed 1.78mn t of coal over April-September, up by 9.6pc from a year earlier, while oil usage edged up by 0.9pc to 3,884 b/d. LNG consumption fell by 61pc to 85,000t during the period, mainly because of maintenance at a gas-fired plant. Hepco expects household electricity rates under regulated tariffs to fall by around 11pc following the planned restart of Tomari No.3 reactor. For non-regulated tariffs, overall rates are projected to decline by an average of 7pc, including roughly 11pc for low-voltage customers and about 6pc for high- and extra-high-voltage users. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

LNG carrier headed for Boston on high spot gas prices

25/12/09

LNG carrier headed for Boston on high spot gas prices

Houston, 9 December (Argus) — A laden LNG carrier appears destined for a rare voyage to the 5.1mn t/yr Everett LNG import terminal near the US' Boston, likely attracted by high spot gas prices amid a prolonged cold snap in the US Northeast. The 174,000m³ Maran Gas Antibes , which loaded at Egypt's 7.2mn t/yr Idku terminal on 28 November, was sailing west across the north Atlantic, putting it on course to arrive at Everett LNG on 14 December at its current speed of 15 knots. The Everett LNG terminal is typically used only in winter. The New England region has scarcer pipeline capacity than elsewhere in the US, causing price spikes when its few interstate pipelines reach the limits of their operational capacity, as they regularly do in the region's chilly winters. New England spot prices have surged this month on elevated heating demand. The Algonquin Citygates index, a key indicator for New England spot prices, was $21.25/mn Btu on 8 December. The price averaged $21.51/mn Btu in the week that ended the same day, more than double the prior week. That was much higher than delivered LNG prices in northwest Europe, where the price for January delivery was $8.70/mn Btu on 8 December, though buyers into Everett would likely have to pay a premium because of the promptness of the requirements. The forecast indicates colder-than-normal weather will remain in New England through 16 December. The Maran Gas Antibes was initially headed for France's southern coast on 3 December, suggesting arrival at the 6.6mn t/yr Fos Cavaou terminal. But weakening demand in France may have prompted the diversion, with the country's piped exports to Italy and Belgium near capacity over 1-4 December, averaging 198 GWh/d, up from 155 GWh/d over the same period a month earlier. If delivered to Everett, the cargo would be Egypt's first LNG export to the US since 2012, according to Kpler data. Egypt's LNG exports have declined sharply since 2022 on lower domestic gas production, falling from 7.14mn t that year to 460,000t so far this year. Despite importing much more gas than it exports, the country continues to ship out LNG to incentivize upstream investment. Everett, owned by US utility Constellation Energy, last imported a cargo in September, ship-tracking data from Kpler show. Imports last winter were limited to a partial cargo each in December and January. Though the US is the world's largest LNG exporter, the Jones Act requires ships going from one US port to another to sail under the US flag. Only one LNG carrier in the global fleet complies with the century-old cabotage law. By Tray Swanson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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TotalEnergies ends Papua LNG rebid phase: Correction

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