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Petrochina, a subsidiary of Chinese state-run oil and gas company CNPC, has received a record amount of LNG at its three major LNG import terminals – namely Tangshan, Dalian and Rudong – during 2018. They reportedly handled more than 15 Mt/year combined: Rudong LNG alone received 85 vessels for a total of 6.5 Mt/year (8.8 bcm/year) throughout 2018 and now operates at full capacity, supplying 49% more LNG than in 2017. Volumes handled by other operators’ terminals were also on the rise: state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) reported that its Zhejiang LNG regasification terminal in Ningbo received 80 carriers in 2018 for a total of 5.47 Mt, which represents 52% more than in 2017. Overall, Chinese LNG imports rose by nearly 44% to 47.5 Mt over the January-November 2018 period (compared with the same period of 2017). China is implementing policies to progressively phase out coal-fired power generation and to replace coal with gas for power generation and residential heating purposes. This led the country to significantly boost LNG imports.. The trend is likely to continue and China could overtake Japan and become the world’s largest LNG importer by 2028.

US-based gas utilities holding company Sempra Energy has agreed to sell its non-utility natural gas storage facilities to an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners for a total consideration of US$332m. The assets included in the transaction have a total operating capacity of 42.7 bcf (1..2 bcm): the 22.3 bcf (630 mcm) Mississippi Hub storage facility in Simpson County, Mississippi,…

German oil and gas company DEA has successfully divested three underground natural gas storage (UGS) facilities in southern Bavaria (Germany) to the Slovak company Nafta, a subsidiary of the the Czech utility EPH Group (i>). Nafta will take over the operatorship of the Wolfersberg UGS (which has been in operation since 1973),…

The European Commission expects the Polish government to submit its new legislation cutting taxes on electricity for European Union scrutiny to check if it complies with the State Aid rules. The new law was passed at the end of December 2018 and will be notified for the EC shortly before coming into force.

The Indian electricity regulator Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has stalled about 16 hydropower projects with a total combined capacity of 5,950 MW due to financial constraints, prompting the government to set up a new hydro policy as soon as possible. This represents approximately half of the hydropower projects currently under construction in the country in terms of capacity.

The Indian upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) will launch the country’s second exploration round under the country’s Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) on 7 January 2019. 14 blocks spread across 7 basins (Rajasthan, Cambay, Gujarat-Kutch, Cauvery, Andaman, Krishna-Godavari and Mahanadi) will be available,…

The Ethiopian government expects the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) hydropower project on the Nile river to start power generation in December 2020. The planned initial production will include two turbines with a combined capacity of 750 MW. The 6,450 MW project will be fully operational by the end of 2022.