No. 1: The European Union (EU) has approved a package of policies around the shipment of Russian LNG to member countries, marking the first official restrictions on natural gas from the country since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.
The EU would still allow Russian liquefied natural gas deliveries to the bloc. However, the new package bans using infrastructure in member countries for transshipments to third-party countries.
Transshipments are important to Russia, as LNG delivered from Novatek’s Yamal export facility is shipped in ice-class vessels, which are in short supply. Carrying cargoes from the Yamal Peninsula in Russia’s far north to European gas hubs like Zeebrugge, Belgium frees up these vessels for more shipments.
The package also added sanctions to some companies participating in Russian energy projects, and strengthened prohibitions on European firms investing in projects in the country.
Earlier in the month, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed more sanctions on companies involved in the 5 million metric tons/year (mmty) Obsky LNG project, as well as the Arctic LNG 1 and Arctic LNG 2 projects, which would each produce 19.8 mmty. The UK also levied a similar package of sanctions aimed at Russian LNG.
No. 2: An LNG vessel has traveled around Yemen’s southern coast through the Gulf of Aden for the first time since January.
The Asya Energy, a 137,200 cubic meter vessel owned by a Dubai company, departed Oman late last week and has been slowly making its way northwest to the Mediterranean Sea, according to Kpler data.
Kpler’s Charles Costerousse, senior market data analyst, told NGI the ship has signaled it is heading for Gibraltar and would likely cross the Suez Canal.
“Given the Houthis' repeated targeting of Western-affiliated vessels, it is unlikely that the current controller of the vessel is a Western-affiliated company,” Costerousse said.
With geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continuing to make the Suez Canal a risky crossing, more than one-quarter of all U.S. LNG exports have taken the longer route around southern Africa so far this year, according to data from Kpler.
No. 3: Bechtel Corp., an engineering, procurement and construction firm working on several Gulf Coast export projects, has opened a South Texas recruitment center to jump-start onboarding for the Rio Grande LNG project.
Bechtel and city officials inaugurated the center in Brownsville on Tuesday in preparation for the thousands of pre-screenings and interviews expected as the firm staffs up. Around 5,000 people are expected to be working on the project at peak construction, according to Bechtel.
Recruitment and retention of qualified workers have been critical for LNG construction progress as the number of projects under construction and continued labor impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic drive up costs.
NextDecade Corp. sanctioned the first three trains of the 17.6 mmty export terminal last year and construction is underway.
The firm took a step toward a final investment decision for a fourth train later this year after signing an investment and offtake agreement last month with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
