Day 3 cont.
Gas day is a long day. I left you last in the Middle East. We now move to Innovation and the Future of LNG.
In this session we hear from Novateck (Yamal LNG), Total SE (many LNG plants), and Venture Global LNG (several projects in the US Gulf). Mr Maurisse of Total speaks of reducing emissions from liquefaction plants by electrifying. Getting the electricity needed to run a plant from non-fossil fuels.
Mr. Sable of Venture Global LNG described how they are developing Calcasieu Pass as a low-cost plant. It benefits from being offshore and having much of the equipment built at the manufacturer and ship by water and assemble at the offshore site. In effect it is modular built as opposed to stick built on land. He went on to stress that LNG is one of the best ways to reduce carbon emissions
Michael Stoppard was the moderator and asked Mr. Gyetvay of the Yamal project what he saw as innovating about their project. In response he pointed to the location of the Yamal plant. A lot of innovation was needed just to build the plant in this remote location on the top of the world in Russia. The Yamal peninsula is estimated to have the largest gas reserves in the world. As it is cold there it is easier to make LNG. Mr Gyetvay went on to say that a key to success is listening to their customers. Having shorter contracts. That green LNG getting a higher price is a myth. Gas is a destination fuel, not a bridge fuel. We need more gas not less.
Michael Smith, founder of Freeport LNG, and one of the pioneers of LNG imports and exports in the US Gulf described 2020 as a unique year. The virus was certainly a reason why we saw LNG exports go from 10 bcf/day to 3 bcf to 12 bcf. This shows how critical the USA is in balancing the world LNG market. The good news is that even with these ups and downs “the cash is flowing”. This is certainly innovation.
Mr. Tomas Garcia Blanco from Repsol follow and reminded us that we should not forget oil and gas as having a lot to do with fighting and hopefully defeating the virus. It is oil and gas that helps build our hospitals, equipment, protective gear, produce medicines and much more. Another form of innovation.
They all agreed that the quickest way to reduce carbon emissions is to use more gas.
We followed by a panel discussing North America’s natural gas future. On the panel were Cynthia Hansen of Enbridge along with Karen Harbert of the American Gas Institute and Octavio Simoes of Tellurian. Ms Harbert pointed to how important natural gas is in the USA and by extension the world. Natural gas in the USA is used by 180mm people. Employees over 4mm jobs, contributes 550 billion dollars in GDP and in the last few years help reduce carbon emissions. Millions of miles of pipelines delivering natural gas safely every day. To the AGI, natural gas is not a bridge fuel but needed long term.
Ms. Hansen stressed the need for infrastructure to produce and deliver natural gas and to develop the fuels of the future like hydrogen. While there is a lot of talk of electrifying everything to lower emissions, we will need natural gas to do that for quite a long time.
Mr. Simoes who has developed several large-scale LNG projects has seen how the developing world needs fuel for their development. In LDC’s the question is how quickly and cheaply you can provide power for their population to grow. Today a large part of the world still uses wood, animal waste and coal for energy. Natural gas and LNG are the best short-term alternative. Mr. Simoes said that in his years of negotiating he never met a customer that said if they could not buy LNG, they would build wind or solar instead.
The Future of Hydrogen was a separate topic in this natural as day. Siemens, Mitsubishi Power and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. all wayed in. These companies have big plans in the area hydrogen. Mr. Browning, of Mitsubishi, told the audience that they currently have the largest clean energy storage facility in the world. This facility is in the USA and based on Green hydrogen. It stores energy generated from wind and solar in tanks and underground caverns for long term with no carbon emissions.
Mr. Eickholt of Siemens described their idea for using hydrogen on a city-wide basis. It is called electrifying hydrogen by using a cities power generation to make hydrogen. This hydrogen can then be used for many applications. Air Products has been in the business of making hydrogen for 60 years. In fact, they are the largest producer in the world. Mr. Ghasemi of APCI, went on to describe the 3 classes of hydrogen technology as different grades of gasoline. Gray is premium coming from fossil fuels, green is regular which comes from renewables and blue is leaded which comes from natural gas that has no carbon emissions. I later found out that there is also pink which comes from nuclear. Mr. Ghasemi also said that besides using hydrogen in cars it could possibly be used as aviation fuel.
One of the most interesting sessions was Women leaders in energy, science, technology, and government. We heard from Dr. Maria Zuber, Presidents Council of Advisors and VP Research MIT. Ms. Enoh T. Ebong of the US Trade and Development Agency. Ms. Maria Pope, CEO Portland General Electric and Ms. Leanne Todd of IHS Markit. CERAWeek continues to show the important role that women are playing in all areas of energy.
By Todd Peterson for Petroleumworld / March 4, 2021
Todd Peterson was born and raised in Venezuela and has a family tradition of working in the
oil and gas industry. He has worked in E&P, refining, natural gas marketing, shipping and LNG
Petroleumworld 03/17/2021
