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McDermott’s storage business, CB&I, will design and build two 500 000 gal. double-wall liquid hydrogen spheres for Plug Power Inc.’s new green hydrogen production facility in Genesee County, New York, US. The production facility, leveraging Plug Power’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser technology, is expected to produce 45 tpd of green liquid hydrogen, making it one of the largest green hydrogen facilities in North America.

The turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract for both spheres also includes insulation, testing and painting, with field erection taking place at Plug Power’s 30-acre site at the Western New York Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park, also known as WNY STAMP.

“There are countless companies talking about liquid hydrogen storage, but CB&I leads the industry in the timely mechanical completion for projects of this scale and significance,” said Cesar Canals, Senior Vice President, CB&I. “Plug Power is the single largest purchaser of liquid hydrogen in the world, and we are excited to be supporting them on this significant project.”

The stainless-steel inner sphere, which holds the liquid hydrogen, will measure nearly 52 ft in diameter with an internal design pressure of 30 lb/in.² and a design temperature of -423°F. The outer sphere, which acts as an insulation container, will be fabricated using carbon steel with a diameter of nearly 60 ft.

“Insulation is a critical component of any double-wall sphere and CB&I is one of the only contractors in the country with an Insulation Betterment Center dedicated to achieving the best designs for the quality and longevity of any insulation system,” said Canals. “Our insulation technology experts are involved from the start of any liquid hydrogen storage project to ensure that these systems achieve optimal thermal performance.”

The project has passed Final Investment Decision (FID) stage, and is currently under construction.

HYDROCARBONENGINNEERING, by Bella Weetch, April 4, 2022

Mexican wants to build new gas liquefaction facilities to export excess gas and will put the plants out to tender if he does not get commitments for their construction within a month, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday.

Lopez Obrador urged U.S firm Sempra, which has a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility by the northwestern port of Ensenada, and other companies to sign up the plan to build the facilities in the Pacific ports of Topolobampo and Salina Cruz, as well as another in Coatzacoalcos in the Gulf state of Veracruz.

Sempra had already said in November it was developing an LNG export plant in Topolobampo in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, but Lopez Obrador on Friday said it was urgent to get moving with the plants worth $3 billion to $4 billion each.

“If Sempra and other companies don’t respond in a month, we’re going to put them out for bid, because there are going to be interested companies,” he told a regular news conference.

The president said it was vital that Mexico become more self-sufficient on energy, and pointed to the importance of being able to export more gas to Asia, the Americas and Europe, amid supply disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine.

Interested companies would have a month to reach agreements on plans for the facilities with the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico’s state-owned power utility, he said.

The president said he spoke about the LNG export plan on Thursday with U.S. officials, including climate envoy John Kerry, when discussing U.S. concerns over Mexico’s proposals to give more market power to its state-run energy companies.

In a document detailing points that Mexico said it shared with U.S. officials, the government also proposed joint accords to modernize wind turbines, dams and the installation of floating solar panels in the reservoirs of the dams.

By Reuters, April 28, 2022

The company to also expand its existing export pipeline network to Cochin Port Trust for products shipments

BPCL Kochi Refinery is betting big on petroleum products exports to shore up its revenue. The company has earmarked an investment worth ₹70 crore to expand its existing export pipeline network from the refinery premises to Cochin Port to enable more flexibility in the supply of products for shipments.

The company had looked beyond the domestic market and targeted exports following a drop in demand during pandemic times.

Overseas markets

In the current year, BPCL has made shipments of diesel and motor spirit to countries such as Bangladesh, South Africa, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia by utilising the facilities at Cochin Port Trust, said TV Karunanidhi, General Manager, Oil Movement and Storage, BPCL, at a function organised by the Cochin Port Trust on PM Gati Shakthi National Master Plan on multi-modal connectivity.

Later, while talking to BusinessLine on the sidelines of the event, he said, “We now have an opportunity to ship more products to overseas destinations thanks to the infrastructure facility and connectivity by pipeline between the oil jetties and the refinery. This will give the company an opportunity to export products in case of requirements in the future.”

The prevailing situation has given the company more opportunities to explore overseas markets and the expansion of the pipeline network was based on emerging market trends. Work in this regard has already started and the expanded facility will be ready for operations by next year, Karunanidhi said. 

Domestic demand back up

However, Karunanidhi went on to add that with the dropping of Covid cases, there is a revival in domestic demand by 95 per cent and so presently the company is now focussing on meeting the requirements.

It is also exploring measures to extend product pipeline from the Cochin Oil Terminal to the proposed Multi-User Liquid Terminal of Cochin Port Trust at Puthuvypeen as its commissioning will open the scope to handle various other petroleum products. This will pave the way for BPCL to handle more ships of exports and coastal cargoes when the Cochin Oil Terminal is occupied. BPCL is also exploring a crude oil handling facility at MULT which can be used to receive crude oil in Puthuvypeen shore tank farm at the time of adverse weather conditions at Single Point Mooring of BPCL in the outer sea, he added.

The Hindu Business Line, by V.Sajeev Kumar, April 28, 2022

Situated in the Baltic region of Europe, the Republic of Lithuania is a developed nation with a high-income economy sustained by an advanced services sector which contributes about 68% to the country’s GDP, followed by the industrial and agriculture sectors. Also, more than 90% of all the foreign direct investment in Lithuania comes from the EU nations, with Sweden being the largest investor.

Around 18% of Lithuania’s exports comprise agro-based goods and packaged food. It is also a distinguished manufacturer of Chemical products, plastics, machinery, electronic appliances, mineral goods, wood and furniture. Its major trade partners are Russia, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Estonia, Sweden and Britain.

Lithuania has a 99-kilometre coastline out of which only a minuscule 38% faces the Baltic Sea while the rest is covered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Hence, Lithuania possesses only one warm-water seaport, the Klaipeda port and an oil terminal named the Butinge Marine Terminal. Let us have a look at the distinguishing features of these ports and terminals of Lithuania.

1. Port of Klaipeda

Klaipeda port is situated on the southeastern Baltic coastline where the Curonian Lagoon and the river Neman meet in Lithuania. It is 230 kilometres away from the Latvian port of Riga and around 123 nautical miles from Port Ronehamn in Sweden. Klaipeda State seaport not only engages in international maritime trade but is an important regional trade hub as well.

The only seaport of Lithuania, Klaipeda is home to 28 designated terminals and huge shipbuilding yards specialising in the construction of floating docks and fishing trawlers. It can handle more than 70 million tonnes of cargo every year and is strategically located at the crossroads of international transportation corridors connecting Europe and Asia. The multimodal facility is closest to the ports in Northern Europe and Southern Scandinavia and is known as a major container port in the Baltic region.

Klaipeda also supports the region’s profitable deep-sea fisheries sector. It has a fish cannery and other important industries engaged in the manufacture of amber jewellery, paper, cotton textiles, radio and automobile parts. Timber working is an intrinsic part of the local economy and hence wood is also a major export commodity. Diverse cargoes are handled at the port such as oil products, fertilisers, container goods, metal scrap, sugar, ferroalloys, perishable items, grain, animal fodder, peat etc.

The seaport is a valuable asset to the country as it contributes significantly to the nation’s GDP. It has also created more than 60,000 permanent jobs and has contributed to the growth of Lithuania’s industries, attracted foreign direct investment and aided in the overall development of the country.

Unlike other northern ports, Klaipeda does not freeze even during the coldest winters, enabling uninterrupted shipping and stevedoring. It is operational 24 hours a day and all days of the week making it the northernmost ice-free facility in the eastern Baltic Sea region. The universal deepwater port also houses fourteen prominent stevedoring, ship repair and construction companies offering maritime business services and efficient cargo handling.

Due to its many advantages such as the presence of a Free Economic Zone, a logistics centre and the short sea shipping network of the European Union, Klaipeda has emerged as a reliable port offering faster services to its national and international customers.

Klaipeda is also an active member of five international organisations such as the Baltic Ports Organisation, International Harbour Masters’ Association, Cruise Baltic etc through which it regularly participates in international negotiations regarding transportation issues, and also organises exhibitions and trade conferences.

The port’s increased productivity should also be attributed to the advanced port operating systems installed in its numerous terminals. For keeping a track of the general cargo and miscellaneous goods shipped through the port, a KIPIS information system has been put in place. It has increased the port’s competitive advantage and allows the companies to exchange electronic information during the cargo handling process.

The LUVIS Port Management Information System automatically manages the shipping procedures of all cargo ships, RORO ships and liquid bulk carriers including the accounting of port dues.

Port features

Klaipeda port covers around 558 hectares of land area. It has two, northern and southern breakwaters measuring 733 m and 1374 m respectively. The entrance channel is 15.5 m deep and can accommodate ships with a maximum length of 400 m, a width of 59 m and a 13.8 m draft. The total length of the port berths is 24.7 km and these can handle 200,000 DWT dry cargo vessels, about 170,000 DWT oil tankers and 20,000 TEU container ships.

Klaipeda has ample storage space such as 1,045,880 m2 of open storage area, covered general cargo yards spanning 99,380 m2 and bulk storage for keeping 933,700 tonnes. The refrigerated cargo station can keep up to 66,000 tonnes of perishable goods whereas the liquid storage tanks have a capacity for 749,000 m3 of liquid cargo.

Bulk Cargo Terminal

This facility specialises in handling mineral fertilisers and also offers bagging services. Other Bulk and general cargoes are also dealt with at its 7 multipurpose berths. With an annual cargo capacity of 16 million tonnes, the terminal’s storage complex consists of 10 covered arched warehouses with a total storage capacity of 250,000 tonnes.

It also has three wagon unloading units for receiving bulk from the railway terminal. These can unload 700 mineral carriers in 24 hours. Three ship loading machines with an aggregate capacity of 100,000 tonnes are operated by the terminal. Four ships with a draft of 14 m can be loaded simultaneously using the automated terminal system.

RORO Terminal

This modern Ro-pax terminal comprises two new berths with adjustable hydraulic ramps, a seaport complex and three terminal buildings. Different kinds of ships like Ro-ro carriers, Ro-pax, con-Ro, cruise and a few passenger vessels are accepted at this facility. Wheeled equipment can be stored in the open yard whereas more than 2500 automobiles are kept in the 10 closed warehouses.

Klaipeda Container Terminal

Three wharves at this facility can accommodate the biggest container carriers apart from dealing with some heavy cargoes. It also provides container packaging, stuffing, stripping, assembly and reloading services.

CN LNG Terminal

The port’s LNG terminal is equipped with three floating piers for receiving LNG vessels. It also provides transhipment services and transfers LNG to storage tanks from gas carriers and vice versa.

Krovinių terminalas, UAB

Numerous services such as loading and storage of petrochemical goods, oil, diesel, and fuel are offered at the Kroviniu terminal served by both railways and roadways. These goods are transported to the neighbouring nations of Belarus and Latvia.

Containing 14 storage tanks and a complex network of pipelines for transporting oil from ships to the nearby reservoir farm, it is one of the busiest facilities of Klaipeda port.

Malkų įlankos terminalas, UAB

This terminal specialises in handling agricultural goods, round and sawn timber, wooden logs, technological and fuel chips, stone, gravel, cement, peat briquettes and other bulk cargoes. It has 9 berthing facilities with a total berthing line of over 1800m2 with an alongside depth of 8.3 m.

Vakarų krova, UAB

This terminal mainly deals with shipments of fertilisers, salt, kaolin, scrap metal, limestone, biodiesel, molasses, round wood, miscellaneous packaged items as well as wheeled machinery and breakbulk. The aforementioned commodities are handled at the 4 sub-terminal facilities offering storage space for dry as well as liquid cargoes.

Western Shipyard, AB

The Klaipeda western shipyard has 5 drydocks offering ship construction, vessel conversion, repair and maintenance services. It has 4500m2 of warehouse space for keeping terminal equipment. The shipyard also manufactures metal structures and carries out metal cutting and processing. It houses 8 workshops and 5 painting shops. Scrap metal is also purchased at this facility.

Cruise Ship Terminal

Apart from being a cargo port, Klaipeda’s position near the Baltic coast’s white sand beaches and Lithuania’s most exotic coastal resort of Palanga, has transformed it into a popular tourist destination, especially crowded during summers.

The advent of cruise shipping in Klaipeda can be traced back to 2003 when the port’s Cruise ship terminal was constructed. Offering world-class facilities, the cruise terminal covers an area of 12 hectares and is just 150 m away from the Klaipeda city centre.

Ships up to 332 metres long, 45 metres wide and 8.6 metres deep can moor at the terminal’s 6 passenger berths. It is endowed with all basic amenities such as 3 waiting rooms, 5 luxurious lounges, offices of cruise ship companies, a post office, a telephone booth, free wifi, currency exchange, internet cafe, ATM, and souvenir shops, bars, restaurants and also hotels.

Central Klaipeda terminal

The central terminal was opened in 2014 and is capable of serving around 500,000 passengers every year. It houses a huge logistics area and a 14-hectare open cargo storage site capable of storing about 600 trailers. It also has a 4000m2 warehouse space and a modern terminal management system that was installed in 2017.

It also comprises three terminal buildings, cafes, a ticketing office and numerous wheelchair ramps and signboards since it is adapted for people with disabilities. In 2018, it was equipped with electric vehicle charging stations. It can also handle non-standard heavy cargo and has 8 parking lots. Business clients can use the conference room located in the main terminal building.

The eastern part of the facility is used as a ferry terminal where small ships sail to nearby regions and countries like Latvia, Sweden and Germany.

2. Butinge Marine Terminal

Butinge Terminal is an oil facility located near the Butinge village in the Palanga municipality on the northern Baltic sea coast, close to the border of Latvia. It was planned, designed and constructed by the Fluor Corporation and is a part of Orlen Lietuva, a subsidiary of the PKN Orlen Group based in Poland and the owner of the Mazeikiai oil refinery of Lithuania, the only oil refinery of the Baltic region.

Situated near the mouth of the Sventoji river and spanning 1239 hectares, this was the first large scale petroleum project undertaken by the country after attaining its independence in 1990.

The single-point mooring terminal can offload up to 4932 m3 per hour. Apart from the floating buoy; an oil pipeline, numerous pumping stations, a wastewater treatment plant and an offshore facility are a part of the Butinge Marine terminal, capable of handling 8 million tonnes of crude oil meant for exportation and around 6 tonnes of oil for import.

The crude oil single-point mooring facility can accommodate tankers weighing up to 80,000 DWT. It is linked to the shore through an offshore underwater pipeline measuring 3 feet in diameter and covering 7.5 kilometres.

The onshore terminal’s storage facilities comprise three 50,000 m3 floating roof tanks for keeping crude oil and four fixed roof tanks dedicated to diesel fuel and slop oil. It is also equipped with a powerful pumping system for loading and unloading oil tankers.

A 22-inch crude oil pipeline is used for transporting the products between the Butinge marine terminal and the Mazeikiai Refinery situated 56 miles from the facility.

marineinsight, by Shilavadra Bhattacharjee April 19, 2022

U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil, which joined other international majors in announcing withdrawal from Russian oil and gas projects, plans to shut down all its businesses in Russia by June 24, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting two sources with knowledge of the discussions.

In early March, days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Exxon said it would exit the Sakhalin-1 oil project in Russia, following the example of other majors, including BP and Shell, who quit their Russian operations following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

ExxonMobil operated the Sakhalin-1 project on behalf of an international consortium of Japanese, Indian, and Russian companies.

“The process to discontinue operations will need to be carefully managed and closely coordinated with the co-venturers in order to ensure it is executed safely,” the supermajor said in early March, adding that it would not invest in new developments in Russia, either.

According to Reuters’ sources, Exxon is now looking to shut down by June 24 its other operations in Russia, including sales of the Mobil brand of lubricants.

In a filing to the SEC regarding market and planned factors that would affect its first-quarter earnings, Exxon said in early April that the exit from the Sakhalin-1 project alone could lead to an impairment charge of $4 billion.

“In light of the ongoing situation in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on Russia, the Company is proceeding with efforts to discontinue operations at the Sakhalin-1 project (“Sakhalin”) and is developing steps to exit the venture,” Exxon said.

“As operator of Sakhalin, the Company remains focused on the safety of people, protection of the environment and integrity of operations. Depending on the terms of its exit from Sakhalin, the Company may be required to impair its investment in the project up to the full book value of Property, Plant and Equipment of $4 billion.”

Shell has also flagged that its withdrawal from activities in Russia would result in impairment of non-current assets and additional charges of $4 billion-$5 billion for the first quarter of 2022.  

OILPRICE by Tsvetana Paraskova, April 22, 2022

Oil prices rose on Thursday, buffeted by concerns about tightened supply as the European Union (EU) mulls a potential ban on Russian oil imports that would further restrict worldwide oil trade.

Brent crude futures settled up $1.53to close at $108.33 a barrel, after earlier reaching a high of $109.80. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures ended up $1.60, or 1.6%, to $103.79, after earlier reaching a high of $105.42.

Buyers also reacted to ongoing interruptions in Libya, which is losing more than 550,000 barrels per day of oil output due to blockades at major fields and export terminals.

Brent has gained nearly 8% in the last seven trading days, but the rally has come at a slow, grinding pace, unlike the frenzy that accompanied moves in late February when Russia invaded Ukraine and in mid-March as well.

“It’s not as easy a trade as it was a couple of weeks ago,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. “You have to risk more, and that may be by design with these hedge funds and algo funds trading more.”

The EU is still weighing such a ban over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation” to demilitarise its neighbour.

Flynn said the market is weighing the possibility that, down the road, slowed growth or additional supply could undermine the bullish case for oil. In the meantime, however, the market remains tight. U.S. stocks of distillate fuels are near 14-year lows, the U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday.

Traders also cited comments from Federal Reserve officials that suggested an aggressive path for increasing U.S. interest rates in coming months. That could drag on growth, reducing demand for energy products.

U.S. crude exports rose to more than 4 million barrels a day last week, partially offsetting the losses of Russian crude hit by sanctions from the United States and European nations.

The oil market remains tight with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, together called OPEC+, struggling to meet their production targets and with U.S. crude stockpiles down sharply in the week ended April 15.

“With only two countries in the OPEC+ alliance holding significant spare capacity, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the group is sticking to a cautious approach in unwinding pandemic-related production cuts,” UBS said in a note.

The demand outlook in China continues to weigh on the market, as the world’s biggest oil importer slowly eases strict COVID-19 curbs that have hit manufacturing activity and global supply chains.

Reuters by David Gaffen, April 22, 2022

In such uncertain times, there are few economic sectors that are a 100% sure bet for investors – but energy storage certainly seems to be one of them. As the world leans more earnestly toward decarbonization and the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sound a “code red for humanity” as the window of opportunity to avoid the worst impacts of global warming rapidly closes, energy storage has become one of the fastest-growing industries as demand for clean energy heats up. 

The global energy storage market is on track to hit one terawatt hour by 2030, a quantity that would mark a more-than 20-fold increase over the already groundbreaking 17 gigawatts/34 gigawatt-hours that were online at the end of 2020. “Overall investment in battery storage increased by almost 40% in 2020, to USD 5.5 billion,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported at the end of last year.

“The global storage market is growing at an unprecedented pace. Falling battery costs and surging renewables penetration make energy storage a compelling flexible resource in many power systems,” says Yiyi Zhou, a clean power specialist at Bloomberg BNEF. “Energy storage projects are growing in scale, increasing in dispatch duration, and are increasingly paired with renewables.”

The breakneck increase in storage capacity is largely being driven by China and the United States, which are currently embroiled in a quietly simmering energy storage war. Each of these countries added gigawatt-scale additions of energy storage capacity in 2020. Together, China and the U.S. represent more than half of the global energy storage market projections for 2030.

China is currently winning the race, having more than doubled its energy storage capacity additions in 2020. What’s more, in July of last year, Beijing announced that it is planning to install 10 times more capacity than its 2020 levels by just 2025.

Oilprice by Haley Zaremba, April 4, 2022

Vladimir Putin’s fateful decision to invade Ukraine and the ongoing brutality have made Russia a pariah state to many leading hydrocarbon-consuming nations, which in turn has caused cuts in Russian crude oil production and exports.

That raises a few important questions, chief among them the degree to which other producers — including the U.S. and the non-Russian members of OPEC+ –– can ramp up their production and displace Russian oil. U.S. output has been increasing recently, albeit only gradually, and production could rise much more quickly under the right circumstances.

But if it does, would there be enough crude export capacity available along the Gulf Coast to handle, say, another 500 Mb/d or 1 MMb/d? In today’s RBN blog, we examine the ability of key U.S. export facilities to stage, load and ship out increasing volumes of oil.

Last week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that, on average, 1.5 MMb/d of Russian oil production will be shut in during April and double that amount — a staggering 3 MMb/d — may be offline in May.

There are three primary drivers behind the decline, according to IEA: (1) more run cuts by Russian refiners as the economy there slows, (2) Russian storage capacity filling up and (3) more foreign buyers shunning Russian barrels. To many — including the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia — the stuff is tainted, not in a physical sense but because Russian oil sales help to finance a disgusting, immoral war.

The 27 member nations of the European Union (EU) feel the same way, and it was reported Thursday by The New York Times that EU officials are drafting an embargo under which they would quickly wean themselves off Russian oil too –– a challenging task, given what has become continental Europe’s heavy dependence on crude from the east.

It is too soon to know how this will all play out, but it would seem logical to expect that, for the global crude oil market to be restored to balance, the declines in Russian production and exports will need to be offset to a considerable degree by rising production in — and exports from — the handful of oil-producing countries able to ramp up their output and sales to foreign buyers. In recent weeks we have blogged extensively about related aspects of this same Russia-centric story.

For example, in Help Is on Its Way and Baby, I Got It, we discussed the U.S.’s ability to help Europe replace piped-in Russian natural gas with U.S.-sourced LNG. In We’re Not Gonna Take It, we wrote about how U.S. refiners could replace Russian imports in their slates.

Also, in I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do) we looked at why many U.S. producers have been slow to increase their crude oil output, and in I Want to Break Free we examined how the Biden administration’s planned release of up to 180 MMbbl from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) may serve as (in President Biden’s words) “a wartime bridge to increase oil supply until production ramps up later this year,” a topic we also discussed in Road to Nowhere.

RBN Energy, by Housley Carr, April 20, 2022