Domestic Natural Gas Research Articles

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAS SUPPLY SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Gas distribution and transportation networks make up the gas supply system. Providing natural gas to the public and the economy is the primary objective of the gas delivery system. Every nation's gas supply network is strategically vital since the cost of natural gas directly impacts the goods and services that are produced and rendered there. It is true that developed nations are looking for innovative technology for natural gas extraction because it is a non-renewable resource. Founded during the Soviet era and throughout multiple phases of development, the Republic of Armenia's gas supply system is a component of the worldwide network. The Public Services Regulatory Commission and the Armenian government, through the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, oversee the country's gas supply industry. The article discusses the Republic of Armenia's domestic natural gas market's supply and sales, its background and present state, investment initiatives, and features that increase the system's operational efficiency.

Toward less carbon-intensive, faster gas-to-market offshore development schemes a case study of using discovered resources in the Bedout Sub-basin

The Dorado and Pavo fields in the Bedout Sub-basin of the Roebuck Basin, offshore Western Australia, boast a combined 2C contingent resource of 210 MMbbls of liquid hydrocarbons and 750 bcf of gas. Their discovery represents a significant development opportunity for the Australian offshore, especially given the considerable un-risked Prospective Resources in the basin. However, Dorado faces challenges due to its high volatile oil/high condensate gas ratio gas (wet gas) accumulation and its reservoir pressure exceeding 5500 psia, necessitating a miscible gas injection strategy to maximise liquid recovery. This approach involves energy-intensive gas processing and high-pressure reinjection, leading to substantial greenhouse gas emissions. The CO2 intensity directly from Dorado compressors is estimated at 30–39 kg/bbl – on a project-level nearly double the average unit emissions of many producers. This paper explores alternative development schemes using public domain information and petroleum engineering principles to mitigate technical risks, reduce CO2 emissions, and possibly improve the economics and development timeline of the Dorado and Pavo fields. For Dorado, a simpler scheme focussing on oil production and gas delivery for domestic or liquefied natural gas (LNG) use could significantly reduce emissions. Meanwhile, Pavo might see development via a standalone FPSO, emphasising reservoir energy management through water flooding and produced water disposal, typical of conventional black oil field development. These alternatives aim for a less carbon intensive and economically viable development pathway, setting a precedent for future exploration and development in the basin.

Numerical simulation of enhanced gas recovery from methane hydrate using the heat of CO2 hydrate formation under specific geological conditions

Methane hydrate (MH) is found under the seabed in Japan's exclusive economic zone and is attracting attention as a domestic natural gas resource. One of the methods for extracting methane gas (MG) from sub-seabed MH reservoir is depressurisation. However, the production decelerates after a certain time partly due to the cooling of the reservoir caused by the heat absorption during MH dissociation. Therefore, several enhanced gas recovery (EGR) methods have been proposed, such as injecting CO2 into a sub-seabed sand layer to form CO2 hydrate (CDH) and, using the heat of CDH formation. This method is two functions: EGR and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. In this study, a numerical method was developed to investigate the performance of the EGR from MH, using the heat of CDH formation. In our previous study, CDH formation model had been installed into a programme code for two-phase flow of CO2 and water in porous media. Based on this code, we newly implemented the state equation, enthalpy model, viscosity model, and heat conduction model of MG and the dissociation model of MH. Then, simulations were performed to form CDH in specific sand-mud alternate layers and to dissociate MH. As a result, it was suggested that increasing the CO2 injection amount potentially increases MH dissociation and the vertical distance between the mud layer capping the injected liquid CO2 and the bottom-simulating reflector of CDH is important to ensure a large CDH region to generate a large amount of heat. It was also shown that even after stopping CO2 injection, MH dissociation can continue for a certain period.

Europe’s independence from Russian natural gas — Effects of import restrictions on energy system development

With the Russian invasion on Ukraine in 2022 and the following disruption of Russian natural gas imports, Europe’s energy reliance on Russia has become more apparent than ever. To tackle the resulting challenges of a limited supply of fossil fuels from Russia and especially its effects on energy system development, short and long-term effects need to be investigated thoroughly. This paper aims to quantitatively analyze the impact of reduced natural gas availability from Russia on the European energy system, both in the coming years, as well as in the future. Using the Global Energy System Model (GENeSYS-MOD), three scenarios with varying amounts of Russian natural gas and further impacts of reduced fossil fuel imports from Russia are calculated. Results show that strong effects are mostly observed in the short to medium-term, but an overall earlier phase-out of fossil fuels can be achieved in the long-term. The reduction of natural gas imports is tackled by an increase in LNG imports and domestic natural gas production to overcome the supply gap. Strong reactions are seen in the levelized costs of electricity generation between 2022 and 2025, with higher costs in scenarios with restrictions on Russian natural gas imports, but with a negligible difference in the long-term. Most importantly, lower emissions in scenarios with reduced natural gas supply from Russia highlight the positive effect of an early reduction in fossil fuels and investment in renewable technologies, resulting in a near 100% emission-free energy system by 2045, 5 years before the Base scenario with unrestricted Russian gas imports. The results find that a limitation of Russian fossil imports does not pose a long-term threat to the European energy system or its required transition away from fossil fuels, but can rather accelerate its decarbonization and energy demand reductions.

Natural Gas Matters: LNG and India’s Quest for Clean Energy

India, the world’s most populous country, is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Despite employing several energy sources, it still relies heavily on coal, its primary energy source. Given India’s swiftly rising energy demand, this challenges meeting emission reduction targets. In recent years, India has significantly increased investments in renewables like solar and hydrogen. While commendable, these initiatives alone cannot meet the country’s expanding energy demands. In the short term, India must rely on both domestic and imported fossil fuels, with natural gas being the most environmentally friendly option. In this context, this paper attempts to forecast energy consumption, natural gas production, and consumption in India until 2050, using both univariate and multivariate forecasting methods. For multivariate forecasting, we have assumed two alternative possibilities for GDP growth: the business-as-usual and the high-growth scenarios. Each of our forecasts indicates a notable shortfall in the projected production of natural gas compared to the expected demand, implying our results are robust. Our model predicts that nearly 30–50 percent of India’s natural gas consumption will be met by imports, mainly in the form of LNG. Based on these findings, this paper recommends that Indian government policies emphasize increasing domestic natural gas production, importing LNG, and expanding renewable energy resources.

Big Players Pivot in Response to Regulatory Pressures

_ Early January brought with it significant changes in the environmental side of the oil and gas industry. ExxonMobil and Chevron, the two largest US oil producers, announced they will exit California, and the Biden administration froze LNG export approvals. After 50 years of producing oil in California, ExxonMobil will take a $2.5 billion writedown of the value of some of its California properties to be recorded in its fourth-quarter earnings. The company said the decision is primarily related to its Santa Ynez operations off the coast of Santa Barbara. Its US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing said, “While the Corporation is progressing efforts to enable a restart of production, continuing challenges in the state regulatory environment have impeded progress in restoring operations.” After the Refugio oil spill in May 2015 (approximately 100,000 gal), resulting from a leak from a pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline, ExxonMobil acquired the damaged asset in October 2015. Just a few months before the purchase, the Santa Barbara County Board denied ExxonMobil’s request to truck its oil produced off the coast of Gaviota to its Las Flores Canyon processing facility and on to refiners located in Pentland, California. Seeking an alternative, ExxonMobil planned to replace two stretches of the 112-mile corroded pipeline for transit of its oil. Met with opposition to replace the damaged pipeline and denied permission to repair and restart production at the site (halted since 2015), ExxonMobil is now selling the Santa Ynez operation to Sable Offshore, a blank-check company created in 2020. The company will loan Sable the money for the purchase of its three offshore production platforms, pipeline, and onshore processing facility. Sable’s agreement with ExxonMobil requires production to be started by early 2026 or the assets and liabilities revert to ExxonMobil. Chevron, headquartered in San Ramon, California, will write down $3.5 billion to $4 billion in assets, citing its home state’s regulations that “have resulted in lower anticipated future investment levels.” The company intends to continue operating its oil fields and related assets. In the SEC filing, Chevron wrote it also will incur fourth-quarter charges related to decommissioning of US Gulf of Mexico assets that have reached the end of their productive lives. The company sold some of those assets, but US law stipulates that previous owners may be responsible for those costs if the current owner declares bankruptcy. Chevron wrote it’s “probable” that it may see such costs. January closed with another unexpected announcement on 26 January. The Biden administration paused decisions on permits to export LNG to non-free trade agreement countries to review current projects seeking approvals. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm stated, “We must review export applications using the most comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the economic, environmental, and national security considerations.” She added that this was not a ban on exports and would not affect already authorized exports, which when combined with existing plants, total 48 Bcf/D. “Within this decade another 12 Bcf/D of US export capacity already authorized and under construction will come online,” Granholm said. While environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions including CO2 and methane) was one of the reasons for the decision, along with market, economic, national security, and energy security, Granholm pointed out that facilities totaling 22 Bcf/D of capacity have been approved but have not yet started construction. This capacity, combined with existing infrastructure, is “more than enough to make the US a ‘behemoth’ in the LNG field,” according to Holland & Knight in an analysis dated 29 January. The international law firm said this raises the question of whether further development of LNG facilities could hurt US citizens as higher percentages of produced gas are exported. “This line of thinking follows the historical rhetoric on this issue as domestic users of natural gas want to ensure their feedstock price is stable. To support those claims, recent studies have concluded that ‘higher LNG exports create a tighter domestic natural gas market (all else held equal), increasing domestic natural gas prices.’” Could unintended consequences of these recent announcements rear up in the future? And could they be a behemoth for the US or global markets? For Further Reading Growth in 2022 US LNG Liquefaction Capacity Hits Top of the Charts by Pat Davis Szymczak, SPE Oil and Gas Facilities.

Transmission Mechanism and Extreme Time-Varying Spillover Effects between China and International Gas Markets

This study uses the quantile connectedness model to study the transmission mechanism between China and the international natural gas market from August 2017 to February 2024. The time-varying spillover effects under extreme market conditions. The empirical results emphasize the following key points: (a) China mainly acts as an information receiver in the overall market. (b) The spillover effect of the European natural gas market is significantly stronger during the extreme downturn, indicating that the spillover effect is asymmetric. (c) The natural gas futures market plays a central role in market dynamics that affect upward return shocks. (d) System connectivity is highly sensitive to market conditions and increases significantly under extreme market conditions. According to the research results, we should make more efforts to promote the liberalization and marketization of the domestic natural gas market, and strive to improve the bargaining power in the international market to reduce the import premium level. Improve energy efficiency and reduce China ’s dependence on natural gas imports; from the perspective of the global natural gas market, risk contagion between markets should be alleviated under different market conditions and a differentiated risk early warning mechanism should be established.

Proposed Improvement of Contractor Selection for Maintenance of Reactor Effluent Air Cooler Using Value-Focused Thinking and Analytic Hierarchy Process at PT KPI RU V Balikpapan

PT KPI RU V Balikpapan performs turnaround to ensure equipment reliability for domestic oil and natural gas production. The Reactor Effluent Air Cooler (REAC) is an important refinery secondary process equipment. Experience in earlier maintenance showed that repeated work on the equipment’s welding tube required further repair processes until it met welding compliance criteria. REAC repair rejections exceeded the 2% target at 43%. Welding on furnaces and tubes was repeated, consequently resulting in delays of work completion that may cost money. The study identified contractor selection criteria using Value-Focused Thinking (VFT). After consulting Subject Matter Experts and Management, five contractor selection criteria were identified: Safety and Health, Technical Ability, Management Capability, Reputation, and Financial. The contractor selection consider uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based on selection criteria. Contractor APL is the best alternative with a 57% score. AHP methods on goods and services procurement can improve contractor selection at the pre-qualification or tender evaluation phase.

Enhancing energy system resilience using tidal stream energy

During autumn 2021, high global gas demand led to a 400% increase in imported wholesale gas prices in the UK. This coincided with (i) an extended period of low wind resource, where wind turbines provided 60% less energy than typical levels for the time of year, (ii) low nuclear power availability and (iii) depleting domestic natural gas reserves. These simultaneous events led to UK wholesale electricity prices more than doubling. The 2022 military and political impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to additional increases in imported fuel prices. These types of disruption have the potential to cause damage worth years of sector revenues [1]. In the future, energy resilience challenges must be overcome whilst also achieving net-zero to limit global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, whilst electricity demand at least doubles.
 This research investigates the role of tidal stream energy in enhancing energy system resilience during periods when the energy system is highly stressed, such as during autumn 2021 in the UK. The concept of resilience refers to the ability of the system to survive strong and unexpected disruptions and to recover quickly afterward [1]. This research is motivated by the acknowledgement that the commercial viability of marine power relies on the sector being able to explain how it can provide contributions beyond decarbonisation [2].
 We build on an energy system modelling case study of the Isle of Wight [3], using the EnerSyM-RC energy system model. Wind data between 2012 – 2020 is analysed to identify and characterise periods of low wind resource. These data form the inputs to the EnerySyM-RC modelling. The model then applies a simple brute force optimisation method to investigate the most suitable mix of solar PV, offshore wind, tidal stream and energy storage that enhances system resilience on the Isle of Wight.
 Initial results show that the adoption of tidal stream energy compliments solar and wind generation by reducing reliance on reserve energy (e.g. imported gas) during high-stress periods. Reduced reliance on imported energy is also achieved because of the distinct generation pattern of tidal power (i.e. 4 periods of power generation, each separated by slack tide, every day), which enhances the utilisation of local energy storage.
 References
 [1] Jasiunas J, et al., 2021, Energy system resilience – A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 150:111476
 [2] Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 2021, Grid Value Proposition of Marine Energy: A Preliminary Analysis, PNNL -31123, Technical report
 [3] Coles DS et al., 2023, Impacts of tidal stream power on energy system security: An Isle of Wight case study, Applied Energy, 334:120686

A system dynamic model for natural gas safety supply and demand balance mechanism

AbstractThe security of natural gas supply and demand has always been an important topic, and as a result, analyzing and predicting the supply and demand of natural gas has received considerable attention from researchers. Numerous studies have extensively researched the supply and demand of natural gas. The main purpose of this study is to explore the supply‐demand balance mechanism for natural gas security. A system dynamics model is constructed to assess the supply and demand of natural gas in Sichuan Province, China. A new system dynamics model based on domestic gas, production gas, ecological environment and natural gas supply is proposed. The study considers four scenarios: natural development, economic priority development, environmental priority development and coordinated development. The results show that the rapid economic development has led to an excessive environmental carrying capacity, a larger gap between natural gas supply and demand, a decline in the quality of life of residents, and even affected the energy security of Sichuan Province and China. The findings also show that people's overprotection of the environment can lead to slow economic development, which prevents it from achieving its desired goals. The coordinated development scenario in this paper not only ensures the production of natural gas and the quality of life of residents, but also is an optimal scheme with low energy consumption and pollution. According to the research conclusions, considering the overall situation of China's energy security and the situation in Sichuan Province, the author proposes reforms from the supply and demand sides of natural gas.

Ecological and economic determinants of energy efficiency in European countries

Since economic development is often associated with an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, it is especially important to answer the question of whether it is possible to achieve sustainable economic development and improve energy efficiency at the same time, which implies a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this study was to build models that can help find the environmental and economic determinants of energy efficiency in European countries. An ecological and economic determinants of energy efficiency indicators of 38 European countries were found based on panel regression models. The models were built based on statistical data characterizing the level of their economic development and consumption of diverse types of energy for 1995-2021. To obtain the necessary approximations of energy efficiency indicators, one of three types of models was used: the random effects method, the fixed effects method, or the pooled model. For this, appropriate statistical tests were used. As a result, it was found that the factors that have a statistically significant impact on the energy intensity of GDP in European countries include the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions, unemployment rate, primary energy consumption per capita, and gross electricity production per capita. The findings showed that determinants of primary energy consumption were domestic consumption of solid fossil fuels per capita, domestic natural gas consumption per capita, and primary energy consumption per capita. The study results generally confirm the modern-day thesis that economic development can be achieved while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The monitoring of factors that have a statistically significant impact on the indicators under consideration can become an essential element of the modern energy efficiency management system of the national economies of European countries

Problems and prospects for development of the gas industry in the domestic market in 2022

The new conditions for 2022 imply a reduction in natural gas exports from Russia to Europe. We expect an overall reduction in natural gas exports from Russia from 244 bill. cub. m in 2021 to 155 bills. cub. m in 2025. Not only physical export flows, but also financial ones will be reduced, which may change the financial condition of Russian companies and require adjustment of their behavior models and strategies. In such conditions, the development of the domestic natural gas market, which has been discussed for the past 20 years, becomes an extremely topical topic. Therefore, this article will focus on the domestic gas market. The main producers of natural gas in Russia, their operating conditions, tax regulation, access to exports and their role in the domestic market will be analyzed and studied. In addition, domestic gas consumers will be considered and the potential for growth in natural gas consumption in the Russian domestic market, which lies in the growth of the chemical industry and the development of gasification, will be assessed. The article will put forward proposals for rebuilding the existing model of the domestic gas market, such as the abolition of the severance tax on new volumes of gas supplies, expanding the capabilities of independent companies in terms of domestic gas supply and gasification, optimizing approaches to choosing settlements for gasification, allowing all gas companies to export LNG, solving the pricing problem: choosing the optimal model for price liberalization in segments other than households and housing and communal services.

Hydrogen-rich syngas production from the lignocellulosic biomass by catalytic gasification: A state of art review on advance technologies, economic challenges, and future prospectus

Global population growth, modernization, and industrialization have all significantly increased energy consumption, which has worsened the climate and led to greenhouse gas emissions, forcing researchers to look into eco-friendly, renewable, and sustainable energy sources. Hydrogen (H2) is emerging as one of the cleanest and most carbon-free future energy carriers generated from diverse domestic resources, organic wastes, lignocellulosic biomass, natural gas, and fossil fuels by biochemical and thermochemical routes. Applying thermochemical routes, lignocellulosic biomass for sustainable H2 production have shown great potential for industrial implementation. As a result, the current study emphasizes the state-of-the-art review of developments in gasification technologies, operating circumstances, and catalysts employed for producing H2-rich syngas. Emerging catalytic technologies to improve H2-rich syngas production were discussed in detail. New technologies including, solar gasification, microwave gasification, plasma gasification, and integrated pyrolysis-gasification were also highlighted. Finally, the prospects and challenges of the process are also pointed out in brief to assist future researchers and stakeholders working for its commercialization.

Optimization of Wantong Gas Company based on MHON (Maslow's Demand Theory)

The innovation point of this study is to customize the scheme for enterprises and combine the needs of the new era. It is not only a single adjustment of the marketing terminal, but also an integration and reconstruction of the brand. It strives to help Wantong Gas Co., Ltd. develop a marketing strategy that fits the characteristics of the new era, adapt to the internal and external development environment, and take the improvement of the core competitiveness of Wantong Gas Co., Ltd. as the ultimate orientation. By optimizing the product structure of Wantong Gas Co., Ltd., expanding the sales share of the target market, enhancing the market competitive advantage, and promoting the high-quality development of the enterprise, it provides theoretical basis and practical experience for the upgrading and brand transformation of Wantong Gas Co., Ltd., and also provides a theoretical model and practical reference for the optimization of the marketing channel strategy of domestic new natural gas energy enterprises.

CO2 methanation enhanced with a cyclic SERP process using a commercial Ni-based catalyst mixed with 3A zeolite as adsorbent

Valorization of greenhouse gas CO2 is needed to mitigate and reduce climate change impact. The sustainable production of methane to obtain synthetic natural gas (SNG) is one of the most attractive solutions, given current needs. The methanation reaction, known as the Sabatier reaction, is limited by the formation of CO as an intermediate at high temperatures and the formation of H2O as a by-product. For this reason, recent research has focused on the use of catalysts/adsorbents mixtures capable of retaining the water produced as well as being methane-selective at low temperatures. In this work, the kinetic model of a commercial Ni/SiAl catalyst in an experimental reaction bed was obtained. Moreover, the water adsorption capacity of the catalyst has been studied in the typical reaction temperature range (473–623 K), and the adsorption equilibrium and diffusional parameters were determined. With the data obtained from these experiments, the methane production in a cyclic Sorption Enhanced Reaction Process (SERP) has been simulated, adding zeolite 3A as a water selective adsorbent. The process consists of three consecutive stages: an adsorption/reaction stage and two other stages, rinse and purge, to desorb the adsorbed water and remove it by condensation. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to determine the effect of the operational variables on the process performance to obtain methane suitable for domestic natural gas consumption. A CO2 conversion of 99.7 %, methane selectivity of 99.9 %, molar purity of CH4 of 98.2 % as product, and compression energy consumption (6.97 kJ/mol CH4) 99 times lower than methane combustion energy has been obtained, proposing, therefore, a new process of methanation.

Market reforms and dynamic price discovery in imported natural gas markets in China

AbstractEmploying a time series approach, Vector Error Correction Model, we investigate the price discovery in imported natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline, markets in China. The liberalisation of domestic natural gas markets and China's pricing reforms have induced systematic structural breaks. The present study explores the dynamic interrelationship between imported LNG and pipeline gas prices. Empirical results show that, before the market reforms in 2014, two markets were not cointegrated implying that both prices move somewhat independently. Over the series of market reforms between 2014 and 2019, both markets have started moving together (cointegrated). From winter 2020, LNG price increased abruptly partly due to LNG supply capacities and both prices are not cointegrated. In addition, empirical results show that LNG market is leading the imported natural gas markets in China and pipeline market is the major price adjuster, that is, a lagging market.

Time-varying determinants of China's liquefied natural gas import price: A dynamic model averaging approach

We adopt a dynamic model averaging (DMA) approach to study the time-varying impacts of several domestic and international factors on the volatility and premium of China's liquefied natural gas (LNG) import price from January 2008 to December 2020. China's LNG import price tends to be more affected by domestic market information than by international crude oil prices. The demand side factors in the domestic market, including gas consumption, weather conditions and industrial growth, are shown to be the major drivers of the dynamics of China's LNG import price. Relative to the influences of the US or European gas markets, China's LNG import price is more sensitive to the impacts of its Japanese counterpart, which could be attributed to their similar pricing mechanisms. The high premium of China's LNG import price is also largely caused by increasing domestic energy demands. Our results further provide evidence of the benefits of marketizing the natural gas pricing in China. While trying to secure natural gas supply, more efforts should be made to keep promoting the liberalisation and marketisation of the domestic natural gas market.

Modeling the strategies to accelerate the natural gas business market growth in a developing country

PurposeRising energy demand and the quest for achieving climate change targets have been pushing emerging markets like India to bolster the natural gas share in their energy mix. The country has set an aggressive target of increasing natural gas share in the energy mix to 15% by 2030. The purpose of this study is to acknowledge the need for adopting and developing strategies for natural gas business market development to ensure a reliable supply at an affordable price. Hence, this study explores the natural gas market business development strategies and assesses them through cause/effect analysis.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposed an integrated framework based on the Grey concept and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique to assess and determine the interdependence among the natural gas business market development strategies by cause-and-effect group analysis. The application of Grey theory reduced the uncertainty and subjectivity involved in the decision-making process. Later, sensitivity analysis is also performed to check the robustness of the framework.FindingsThe natural gas business market development strategies are identified through a systematic literature search and contributions from industry experts. The findings of this study highlight the importance of developing pipeline and storage infrastructure facilities, ensuring supply security through long-term imports and overseas investment, implementing free-market-based pricing, simplification and standardization of regulatory processes at state and national levels, etc., for the development of the natural gas market development in India.Research limitations/implicationsThis study acknowledges the natural gas market development strategies and evaluated them into cause-and-effect groups which are limited to Indian context. All evaluations in the Grey-based DEMATEL method were made in this study based on the decision team inputs which limits the generalization to other geographies. Moreover, the opinions of the experts can be subjective and differ. The selection of the experts is done through non-probability sampling process.Practical implicationsThis study could support the government and decision-makers in formulating the appropriate strategies to develop the domestic natural gas market. The cause-and-effect relationships are helpful for the companies, management, government, regulators and other stakeholders to understand the criticality of the causal strategies that must be implemented for developing the favorable natural gas business market scenario.Originality/valueThis study explores and evaluates the strategies that successfully bolster the natural gas business demand in India using Grey-based DEMATEL framework. By focusing on those critical strategies, relevant stakeholders would ensure a reliable natural gas supply at affordable prices.

New Life for Old Iron in the US Gulf

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. We’ve all heard the mantra and likely recall it as our grade school introduction to the world of recycling. On a personal level, that meant collecting tin cans, flattening cardboard, or gathering plastic or glass receptacles. Many of these waste products return to industry and reemerge as something new and are kept out of a landfill, at least temporarily. When it comes to recycling in the oil and gas industry, many have looked at assets that have reached their end of life in one service and attempted to repurpose them for another. Offshore rigs have been sold out of the industry to become everything from early warning radar stations for the US military (see the SBX-1) to potential offshore launch pads for Elon Musk’s SpaceX program and beyond. Many offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) either find their way to the scrap yard or into the rigs-to-reefs program, which reuses old, fixed platform jackets as fresh ecosystems for marine life. However, something that is often talked about but rarely occurs is the reuse of an existing, but idled, production platform on a new field. This appears to be the fate of Independence Hub (IHub)—the floating centerpiece to an ambitious Anadarko Petroleum-led $2-billion deepwater GOM project that aligned several different players and various natural gas discoveries in the mid-2000s (OTC 31155). The last well at IHub ceased production in December 2015, after just 8-plus years of operation. The facility hosted produced volumes of more than 1.3 Tcf of gas, exceeding initial projections for the project by more than 30%. IHub was idled soon after and ultimately decommissioned in 2019. A New Lease on Life In May, offshore producer LLOG acquired IHub; it plans to modify the deep-draft, semisubmersible platform to develop a pair of discoveries in the Keathley Canyon area of the GOM. The reborn platform will be renamed Salamanca and will host oil and gas production from the Leon find in Keathley Canyon Blocks 642, 643, 686, and 687 and the Castile discovery (formerly Moccasin) in Block 736. As currently envisaged, two wells from Leon and one well from Castile will be tied back to the unit at its future installation site in Block 689 in 6,400 ft of water. Initial production from the joint development is expected in mid-2025. “By modifying a previously built production unit compared with constructing a new facility, we are able to reduce significantly the time and cost to bring these discoveries online,” said Philip LeJeune (according to his LinkedIn), president and chief executive of LLOG. “This development will add a significant new source of needed domestic oil and natural gas production when it comes online.”

Concurrent 20. Presentation for: Collocated offshore wind-hydrogen

Presented on Wednesday 18 May: Session 20 The hydrogen industry in Australia is in its infancy with most projects at this stage supported either by State Governments or through the funding arms of the Federal Government. The market is rapidly developing and interest in hydrogen has grown exponentially over the past few years. Governments in Australia and many countries around the world have set decarbonisation targets and it is expected that Hydrogen will play a major role in fulfilling these commitments. Largely driven by policy announcements and commitments, several hydrogen projects are currently in development in Australia and globally. Current forecast data indicates over 200 GW of electrolyser capacity are either planned for deployment or under construction. While industry moves forward with deployment-scale projects, incumbent fuels occupy a healthy competitive position. For example, in Western Australia natural gas prices are around $6/GJ and are set to remain stable into the foreseeable future, largely due to Western Australia’s domestic gas reservation policy. However, the impact of volatile oil prices on domestic natural gas remains to be seen. Although potential green hydrogen projects are mostly in early stages, increased opportunities for partnerships on the supply side or joint venture arrangements with energy producers and demand side off-takers, will accelerate these projects achieving feasibility. However, in achieving target hydrogen prices, the barriers remain significant. One such barrier, is the cost of renewable electricity and one such solution could be collocated offshore wind-hydrogen systems. By nature, offshore wind is an intermittent energy source. Hydrogen could be used as a means of storing renewable energy for electricity balancing, and as a dedicated source for large-scale hydrogen production. Hard-to-abate sectors remain a significant challenge as we transition to net-zero. Hydrogen may be used to de-carbonise hard-to-abate sectors as many stakeholders see offshore wind as the primary partner for hydrogen production. This paper discusses collocated wind-hydrogen systems as a potential pathway for offshore wind deployment and commercial hydrogen production. To access the presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here