Tag: LNG

ABS released a report entitled Bunkering of Liquefied Natural Gas-Fueled Marine Vessels in North America. The objective of the report is to provide guidance to potential owners and operators of gas-fueled vessels, as well as LNG bunkering vessels and facilities, to help them obtain regulatory approval for projects. "As the potential for LNG fueled vessels in North America continues to grow, uncertainty exists on how to meet various regulatory requirements. It has become very clear to us while conducting this study that the visionary projects teams who properly plan their path to compliance can be successful," says ABS Vice President for Global Gas Solutions Patrick Janssens. "This report lays out an integrated approach to addressing the federal, state, provincial and local requirements that may impact LNG bunkering infrastructure. The ABS Global Gas Solutions team is prepared to help stakeholders successfully address each level of regulatory compliance." "This is the first comprehensive study of its kind that clearly identifies a path forward for regulatory approval of LNG bunkering practices and infrastructure in North America," says ABS Group Vice President for Global Initiatives Chuck Mitchell. "This report is only one step in the continued development of robust LNG service offerings of ABS ...

Image Credit: BG Group Europe received net imports of only 35 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2013, the lowest volumes for nearly a decade as the rapidly increasing appetite for energy in Asia and Latin America drew supply, according to BG Group's annual Global LNG Market Overview published today. Andrew Walker, BG Group Vice President of Global LNG, said volumes diverted from Europe allowed the global LNG market to balance. But it also left European LNG imports down more than 45% on the peak of 66 million tonnes in 2011. "In 2013 gas supply to Europe via pipelines increased, while at the same time overall gas demand remained subdued, allowing LNG volumes to feed growth markets including China, South Korea, Mexico and Brazil," Dr Walker said. "In 2014 we expect Europe will continue to balance the global LNG market by ceding volumes, but it's not clear how much more can be diverted before we reach the minimum level of imports. "When that floor is reached, LNG will likely be drawn from other, more price-sensitive markets in periods of peak demand. In time, we may see these markets assume Europe's position as the balancing market for global LNG ...

Gas will be the energy of the 21st century. Demand is forecast to grow 2.5% a year for the next 10 years, ranking it second in the global energy mix in 2030. What will be future of LNG supply contracts? Will spot-priced short term contracts prevail over oil-linked ones? How much pressure will the LNG trade put on oil indexation in Asia? The answers will depend on the future of the nuclear generation in Asia and on the status of the new LNG projects in different parts of the world the International Gas Union (IGU) has issued World LNG Report 2013 to answer above questions. The report reviews the situation of the global LNG market throughout 2012, up to the first quarter of 2013. ''The role and place of gas on the global energy arena has been strengthened in past decades. Gas, the cleanest fossil fuel and the only one expected to grow, is being recognized as the key fuel for meeting the challenge of rising energy demands.  The LNG sector follows this upwards trend as the main driver of globalization of the gas industry. In 20 years, the LNG trade has evolved from an intra-regional status to achieve worldwide growth at a 10% rate a year. ...

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), a Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm with offices in New Orleans and Ketchikan, obtained approval in principle (AIP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the design of a 2000 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) combination bunkering barge. “At ABS our goal is to help designers, shipyards, and operators bring new and novel concepts to the marketplace in a safe and effective manner,” said ABS Director of Global Gas Solutions Roy Bleiberg. “The EBDG combination bunkering barge takes an innovative approach to meeting the challenges of LNG bunkering, a hurdle that must be crossed for LNG fueled operations to become truly effective in the United States.” Stated EBDG Project Manager, Curt Leffers: "We are excited to obtain ABS approval in principal on our bunkering barge design. Our 2000 cubic meter design is the basic platform that can be customized to meet our customer's operational and cargo capacity requirements." The EB-2000 LNG is one of several LNG barge designs developed by EBDG for clients to meet growing demand for efficient and cost-effective refueling of LNG powered vessels. The innovative 257 ft. EB-2000 was designed for either an ATB or towed configuration, and ...

"Shipowners' hopes for decisive action with regard to LNG refueling points have been shattered" said Patrick Verhoeven, ECSA Secretary General. "While the 2015 deadline for the compliance with the requirements of the EU Sulphur Directive is fast approaching and with time running out, it was our hope that the EU would break the LNG chicken and egg dilemma by deciding that major European ports will need to have LNG refueling points in place by latest 2020 so as to coincide with the 0.5% limit in sulphur content of bunker fuels in EU waters" he added. Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament have agreed in the context of informal negotiations (trialogue) on a text that would considerably weaken the initial Commission proposal for a Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure in Europe. According to the agreement, Member States will have to ensure that "a sufficient number" of big European ports have developed LNG refueling infrastructure for maritime transport by 2025. The EU Sulphur Directive adopted in 2012 aims at the reduction of sulphur emissions from maritime transport in the SECAs (Sulphur Emission Control Areas - Baltic Sea, North Sea and the English Channel) by rendering the ...

The new Municipal Police Regulations, Port Guidelines and associated forms came into force on 9 March 2014. For the first time the regulations include specific procedures for LNG bunkering. With these procedures the Port Authority aims to ensure that LNG bunkering is carried out as safely as possible. The use of LNG  as a ship's fuel is a relatively new technology, but it is much more environment-friendly than the diesel fuels currently used. Emissions of sulphur in particular are significantly lower, but when it comes to other pollutants too such as NOx and particulates this fuel performs much better. Although ships are much more energy efficient than other forms of transport, their greenhouse gas emissions still pose a challenge for the international fight against global warming. For this reason a new IMO regulation (International Maritime Organization - Marpol annex VI) comes into force in 2015 for reducing ships' emissions in the ECA (Emission Control Area) covering the North Sea, Baltic Sea and English Channel where there are stricter controls on the use of bunker oil. The new IMO regulations focus mainly on reducing the sulphur content of bunker oil and other ship's fuels. The use of LNG is seen as ...

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has issued an analysis on the assessment of the fuel cycle impact of LNG as used in international shipping. Although natural gas is being used more widely for road transport, it shows particular promise for the marine transport sector, which faces pressure from more stringent engine and fuel quality standards that will demand major emission reductions to improve air quality and mitigate climate change impacts. The use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of conventional residual and distillate fuels will substantially reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter (PM), obviating the need to pay a price premium for new, low-sulfur marine fuels and to install after-treatment equipment to meet the upcoming standards. But considerable uncertainty remains about the net effects of LNG-fueled vessels on emissions. At issue are the upstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts, including the energy required to transport, handle, and process the fuel, as well as leakage of natural gas into the atmosphere. Analyzed LNG marine vessel bunkering pathways (Image credit: ICCT report) The analysis seeks to assess the extent to which the associated upstream carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions from producing ...

Bureau Veritas is to class a gas-fuelled major ro-ro passenger ferry newbuilding and oversee the conversion of three existing ro-pax ferries to LNG power for Brittany Ferries. A major risk analysis carried out by Bureau Veritas together with Tecnitas was integral to the decision process for Brittany Ferries to switch part of its fleet to gas fuel. Jean Jacques Juenet, passenger ship manager, Bureau Veritas, says, "We are proud to be deeply involved in this major project, not only by performing the required risk analysis for the ships but also together with Brittany Ferries working with the ports they serve on the logistics and bunkering. With a clear picture of the economics and safety issues and certainty about the fuel supply Brittany Ferries was able to take the crucial decision to adapt to new emission rules by making a full switch to gas power." A new LNG-powered ferry has been ordered to be built under BV class at STX France. The 24.5 knot ship will be one of the largest LNG-powered ro-paxes yet with a passenger capacity of 2,475 and space for 800 cars. It will utilise GTT membrane tank technology for the gas containment, allowing a larger capacity and ...

Lars Petter Blikom, Segment Director LNG at DNV GL, summarizes all known LNG bunkering facility developments around the world as of January 2014. In DNV GL's blog, Lars Petter Blikom has posted his presentation on Global LNG bunkering infrastructure and he also comments: ''2 years have gone by since I said I was dead tired of hearing the chicken and egg parallel to LNG bunkering. Even today you'll hear this phrase in any given LNG bunkering conference. If these speakers instead of speaking had spent some time observing the market developments, they'd find that there are chicken all over the place. Just have a look at these maps and summary lists for LNG bunkering developments around the world'' Image Credit: Slide from Lars Petter Blikom Presentation, DNV GL   His presentation includes latest developments on LNG bunkering infrastructure in the below areas: Baltic & North Sea ECA (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK,  Finland, Estonia, Lithuania/ latvia, Poland) North American ECA (West Coast, East Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, Canada) South America (Argentina) Mediterranean Sea (Spain, Turkey) Asia- Pacific ( China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Sri Langka, India, Australia) Middle East Further information may be found at the presentation ...

An Agreement of Cooperation as part of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects was signed at the Gazprom headquarters by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Andrey Akimov, Chairman of the Gazprombank Management Board. According to the Agreement, the parties will cooperate within the Baltic LNG and Vladivostok LNG projects. Gazprom will be the majority shareholder in the project companies set up to implement the Baltic LNG and Vladivostok LNG projects. Gazprombank will have an opportunity to acquire a stake in the project companies. The project companies, among other things, will own LNG plants along with other necessary production facilities as well as manage the projects at all stages, including the development of project documents. According to the document, Gazprombank jointly with Gazprom will hold negotiations with international and Russian financial institutions to obtain equity and external financing for the project companies. Gazprom will support the project companies, inter alia by selecting appropriate sites for LNG plants, obtaining land lease/acquisition rights required for the construction and providing the LNG projects with necessary volumes of natural gas. Source and Image Credit: Gazprom  In the beginning, I was open with you propecia before and after has changed my life. It ...