Russian hydrocarbon (Oil and Gas and Coal) Industry: News #4

Moscow says Power of Siberia 2 pipeline to China will 'replace' Nord Stream 2

Moscow has announced that Nord Stream 2 will be "replaced" by an alternative gas pipeline to China.

Power of Siberia 2, something Moscow and Beijing have discussed for several years, will take the place of Nord Stream 2, said Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Thursday.

Nordstream 2 is a proposed route for bringing Russian gas to Europe, particularly Germany. Construction of the controversial pipeline was completed in September 2021, though its certification was suspended following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking on Russian state television, Novak was asked if the Asian pipeline could replace its European counterpart within Russia's energy strategy -- to which he replied "yes".

Earlier in the day, the minister indicated that Russia and China would soon sign a deal to deliver "50 billion cubic metres of gas" per year via the proposed Power of Siberia 2 pipeline.

This volume represents almost the maximum capacity of Nord Stream 1 – 55 billion m³ in total – which has been shut down since September.

Nord Stream 1, connecting Russia and Germany, used to carry around one-third of Russian gas deliveries to the European Union.

Power of Siberia 2 will supply China's energy-hungry economy through Mongolia from western Russia. Building works are set to start in 2024. It is the successor to the Gazprom-operated Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, stretching from eastern Siberia to northern China.

Moscow wants Power of Siberia 2 to replace the shelved Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a project long supported by Germany, but which the United States took a very dim view of, over concerns about European dependence on Russian energy.

Exports of gas from Russia will "drop by around 50 billion m³" in 2022, Novak added during Thursday's interview.

Meanwhile, the Russian energy minister said energy giant Gazprom is planning to "increase its deliveries" to China to "20 billion m³ of gas" each year.

The connection at the beginning of 2023 of the Kovytka field, near Lake Baikal, to the Power of Siberia will contribute significantly to this increase.

In 2025 -- the year the pipeline will reach maximum capacity -- more than 61 billion m³ of Russian gas will be carried to China.

Brazil Is Trying To Boost Diesel Imports From Russia

Brazil is in talks to boost diesel deliveries from Russia and the Middle East amid a shortage of the fuel that began several months ago and is currently hurting President Jair Bolsonaro’s re-election chances next month.

Per a Reuters report, the Brazilian government had said earlier this year that it was trying to buy as much diesel from Russia as it could to shore up its supply.

The diesel shortage is not a specifically Brazilian problem, however, and the redirection of flows means the shortage could get worse elsewhere. Europe is particularly vulnerable because of the oil and fuel embargo on Russian hydrocarbons that is due to come into effect later this year and early in 2023 for fuels.

In August, Reuters reported that Europe’s diesel inventories were below the average for that time of the year and as buyers shunned Russian fuels and crude amid sanctions on other Russian imports, replenishment did not take place. The other reason for that was that diesel inventories are also thin elsewhere, notably in the United States.

The tightness in the diesel market was the result of a number of factors, including the switch from gas to diesel for industrial energy generation amid soaring gas prices. Most of these switches were made in Europe and the Middle East, Bloomberg noted in a late-August report.

With Russia supplying some 60 percent of Europe’s diesel, due to dry up in early February next year, European consumers of the fuel would need to act fast to secure alternative supplies from a limited pool. China is a possible savior if it increases its fuel production but there are geopolitical problems with replacing a diesel reliance on Russia with one on China.

In the meantime, as Russia would need new markets for its fuels, Brazil could become a rare beneficiary in a tight supply market.

Finland imports Russian gas to fill LNG terminal

Work has just been completed on a 30,000-cubic-metre gas tank in Hamina, which was intended to reduce Finland's dependence on Russian gas.

The Dutch-flagged Coral Energy tanker arrived at Hamina port in the southeast of Finland on Monday morning at 9am, carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia.

The tanker's point of departure was Vysotsk in Russia, as confirmed by the Marine Traffic(siirryt toiseen palveluun) tracker website.

The Finnish state-owned firm Gasum confirmed to Yle that the LNG delivered to the port of Hamina was ordered from them and that the gas came from Russia.

Finland is preparing to open a new LNG terminal in Hamina, in a bid to reduce reliance on imports of gas from Russia.

Work on a 30,000-cubic-metre gas tank in Hamina has just been completed, and the tanker that arrived at the port will start filling it.

Key phase of works on construction of ice protection facilities completed at Arctic LNG 2 project’s Utrenny terminal

All the works on construction of ice protection facilities are to be completed in December 2022

FSUE Hydrographic Company, a company of Rosatom, says it has completed pile foundation, the key phase of works on construction of ice protection facilities at Utrenny terminal in Sabetta seaport under Arctic LNG 2 project. A total of 5,759 piles have been driven when building the Southern and Northern ice protection facilities of LNG and gas condensate terminal in Sabetta. According to the company, the works also included installation of reinforcement cages, fastening of the pile foundation, reinforcement and covering of the facilities’ upper part with concrete.

All the works on construction of ice protection facilities are to be completed in December 2022.

The Southern and Northern ice protection facilities will be 3.1 and 1.3 km accordingly. The barriers will protect the water area from floating ice able to damage the berths and the fleet.

The pile diameter is ranging between 1,420 and 2,520 mm, their length - between 21.5 and 62.2 meters. The total weight of the metal structures exceeds 165 thousand tonnes. The total volume of concrete exceeds 83 thousand cbm.

Hydrographic Company has been conducting dredging works at Utrenny terminal from 2019. The construction of ice protection facilities began in summer 2020. Dredging works on the access canal and in the water area of Utrenny terminal were completed in September 2021. The scope of dredging performed over three years exceeded 24 million cbm.

FSUE Hydrographic Company, a company of Rosatom, provides navigation and hydrographic support in the water area of the Northern Sea Route including the survey of bottom relief for keeping navigation charts and guides up-to-date, for providing the Northern Sea Route waters with aids to navigation and for informing seafarers about changing navigation circumstances. The company acts as a contractor under the projects on construction and operation of new port infrastructure facilities within the Northern Sea Route.

caveat emptor wrote:

owais.usmani wrote:https://yle.fi/news/3-12629869

Finland imports Russian gas to fill LNG terminal

Work has just been completed on a 30,000-cubic-metre gas tank in Hamina, which was intended to reduce Finland's dependence on Russian gas.

The Dutch-flagged Coral Energy tanker arrived at Hamina port in the southeast of Finland on Monday morning at 9am, carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia.

The tanker's point of departure was Vysotsk in Russia, as confirmed by the Marine Traffic(siirryt toiseen palveluun) tracker website.

The Finnish state-owned firm Gasum confirmed to Yle that the LNG delivered to the port of Hamina was ordered from them and that the gas came from Russia.

Finland is preparing to open a new LNG terminal in Hamina, in a bid to reduce reliance on imports of gas from Russia.

Work on a 30,000-cubic-metre gas tank in Hamina has just been completed, and the tanker that arrived at the port will start filling it.

This has to be some joke, 30000 cubic meters? Average house in the winter use about 300 cubic meters per month. It's enough to, maybe, power small village for a month.

caveat emptor wrote:

flamming_python wrote:
300 cubic meters of LNG?
Are you insane?  
1 cubic meter of LNG is over 6000 Kilowatt hours. That's enough for 2 houses over the course of the Finnish winter and then some
30,000 cubic meters of LNG will be enough for 70,000 houses for 3-4 months. That's an entire town of +200,000 people; 3-4% of Finland's population. Which isn't too bad for a 31x31x31 equivalent meter tank.

You're confusing LNG volumes with natural gas volumes. The article mentions the tanker filling it, so it's presumably an LNG storage tank; that will be gradually de-liquified as needed.

LNG is never kept stored, natural gas is. To stay liquid, LNG needs to stay at -160 C approximately. That takes mucho energy. Natural gas is kept in liquid state only for transport. Process goes liquify -> transport -> deliquify -> store. As i pointed out in my first message, probably, either journalist left out couple of zeros or they don't understand what they are talking about. I didn't read the quoted article.
And units for it are usually in gallons or tons, since it is liquid.

Gazprom will supply Kovykta gas to the gas pipeline on October 25

Commissioning of the field is scheduled for the second half of December

Moscow. September 19th. INTERFAX.RU - On October 25, Gazprom will supply gas from the Kovykta field to the Kovykta-Chayanda gas pipeline for commissioning under load, the commissioning of the field is scheduled for the second half of December, the company said.

"Today, at an operational meeting with the Chairman of the Board of PJSC Gazprom, it was recorded that on October 25, gas from the Kovykta field will be supplied to the Kovykta-Chayanda gas pipeline for commissioning under load. The field will be put into operation in the second half of December this year" , the information says.

"The Kovykta field is unique, the largest in Eastern Siberia with recoverable gas reserves under the project - 1.8 trillion cubic meters, gas condensate - 65.7 million tons. With the launch of Kovykta, the resource base in the east of the country is significantly expanding to supply gas to Russian consumers and It should be noted that in 2022 Gazprom's gas reserves replacement ratio will exceed 1, as it has been for the past 17 years.

As reported, the Kovykta field in the Irkutsk region, following the Chayandinskoye field in Yakutia, will become a source of gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline . The start of supplies of Kovykta gas is scheduled for the end of 2022. Gas deliveries to China from the Chayandinskoye field in Yakutia through the Power of Siberia began at the end of 2019, the first five years are allotted for increasing volumes to 38 billion cubic meters. m per year. In 2021, Gazprom supplied China with 10.39 billion cubic meters of gas via this pipeline. m, exceeding the contractual values ​​by 390 million cubic meters.

caveat emptor wrote:
LNG is never kept stored, natural gas is. To stay liquid, LNG needs to stay at -160 C approximately. That takes mucho energy. Natural gas is kept in liquid state only for transport. Process goes liquify -> transport -> deliquify -> store. As i pointed out in my first message, probably, either journalist left out couple of zeros or they don't understand what they are talking about. I didn't read the quoted article.
And units for it are usually in gallons or tons, since it is liquid.

The media revealed the details of the agreement on the supply of Russian gas to Iran

Fars: Iran will soon start buying nine million cubic meters of gas from Russia daily

MOSCOW, September 20 - RIA Novosti. Tehran, within the framework of an agreement between Gazprom and the Iranian National Oil Company, will soon start buying gas from Russia, the Fars news agency reported, citing a report by the Iranian Oil Ministry.
The Islamic Republic will receive nine million cubic meters of raw materials per day, deliveries will go through Azerbaijan .
In addition, Tehran plans to purchase six million cubic meters of LNG for swap deliveries to countries south of Iran.

Gazprom and the Iranian National Oil Company in July signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation worth $40 billion. The parties will explore the possibility of cooperation in the development of fields in the Islamic Republic, the implementation of LNG projects and the construction of gas pipelines.
As the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on the proposal of the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to introduce a price ceiling for Russian gas, Gazprom will actively look for alternative buyers in these conditions.

GAZPROM TO HALT CHINESE GAS SUPPLIES ON SEPT 22-29 FOR MAINTENANCE

Preventative maintenance at the pipeline takes place twice a year, in spring and autumn

Russia's Gazprom plans to take the Power of Siberia pipeline offline between September 22 and 29 for planned maintenance work, temporarily halting gas deliveries to China.

Preventative maintenance at the pipeline takes place twice a year, in spring and autumn, as agreed as part of the supply contract between Gazprom and China's CNPC.

When Gazprom launched the 38bn m3/year Power of Siberia at the end of 2019, it estimated that sales would reach 15bn m3 this year. But the company has provided no information on volumes since then, besides that they continue to rise.

Onshore regasification

At an import terminal with onshore regasification, LNG is received from an LNG carrier and is stored in large onshore tanks and regasified at the import terminal.