Hydrocarbon Engineering - July 2020

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WORLD NEWS
HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING 5 July 2020
Worldwide | IEA: gas market hit by historic
shock
The combination of the COVID-19
crisis and an exceptionally mild
winter in the northern hemisphere
have put global demand for natural
gas on course for its largest annual
decline in history, the International
Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new
report.
Global gas demand is expected
to fall by 4%, or 150 billion m3 –
twice the size of the drop following
the 2008 global financial crisis.
As of early June, all major gas
markets worldwide are experiencing
falls in demand or slumps in growth,
according to the IEA’s ‘Gas 2020’
market report. For the full year, more
mature markets across Europe,
North America and Asia are forecast
to see the biggest drops, accounting
for 75% of the total decline in gas
demand in 2020.
Global oversupply is pushing
major natural gas indices to record
lows, while the oil and gas industry is
cutting spending and postponing
investment decisions to make up for
the significant shortfall in revenue.
Although a rebound is expected in
2021, the IEA report does not assume
a rapid return to the pre-crisis
trajectory.
Worldwide | Siemens and Total to advance concepts for low-emissions LNG
Siemens Gas and Power has entered
into an agreement with Total to
advance new concepts for green LNG
production.
As part of the contract, Siemens
Gas and Power is conducting studies to
explore a variety of possible
liquefaction and power generation
plant designs, with the ultimate goal of
decarbonising the production of LNG.
The studies are targeting key areas,
such as reducing the environmental
footprint of LNG liquefaction
facilities and the associated
greenhouse gas emissions, plant
reliability, maintainability, regulatory
compliance, and development costs.
Concepts to be explored include the
use of gas turbine- and electric-driven
compression trains in conjunction
with proven single-mixed refrigerant
and double-mixed refrigerant
technologies; selecting equipment
that can minimise or eliminate
process flaring; and developing
techniques to improve the efficiency
of onsite power generation facilities
(heat recovery systems, inlet air
chilling, supplementary firing,
renewables integration, battery
storage, etc.).
The studies are also exploring
how to leverage digitalisation and
automation platforms to optimise
plant design and achieve seamless
project execution.
Russia | Johnson Matthey wins methanol
technology contract
Johnson Matthey (JM) has
announced that its combined
reforming methanol technology has
been selected by JSC Technoleasing
for the new Amur Oblast facility,
located in Skovorodino, Russia.
JM will provide a licence for the
plant and will include its new
Advanced Series Loop technology,
which utilises an innovative synthesis
loop arrangement together with
existing reactor technology to
achieve a significant improvement in
natural gas efficiency.
The contract also includes the
associated engineering, proprietary
equipment and catalyst supply.
Pending a final investment
decision (FID) by Technoleasing, this
will be the first JM-licensed
methanol plant in Russia using the
combined reforming and Advanced
Series Loop technology. JM said that
the deal represents the company’s
commitment to providing its world
class expertise and sustainable
technologies to Russia’s growing
petrochemical industry.
USA | API testifies to
Senate on COVID-19
impact
The American Petroleum Institute
(API) recently testified before the
Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources and discussed the
challenges facing the US natural gas
and oil sector during the COVID-19
pandemic, as well as the industry’s
role in the economic recovery.
“We remain confident that
economic recovery and oil demand
are inextricably linked, and we see
signs of recovery and demand
increases continuing into the
second half of 2020,” said API
Senior Vice President of Policy,
Economics and Regulatory Affairs,
Frank Macchiarola.
Macchiarola explained the
market impacts of COVID-19 and
emphasised how the historic
downturn has primarily been related
to a significant decrease in demand.
However, the US Energy Information
Administration (EIA) projects a
relatively more rapid recovery for
demand than supply.
According to Macchiarola, this
projection “underscores the
importance of an energy policy in
the [US] that allows markets to work
and thus helps enable US producers
to ramp back up as the economic
recovery progresses.”