In this Issue:

FROM THE EDITOR: MARKETS FACE GEOPOLITICAL RIPPLES

The tense situation between Ukraine and Russia has stirred volatility in the gas market, while events in Kazakhstan highlight the risks when fuel and energy prices go too high.

NATURAL GAS IN 2022: 12 THEMES

As the world emerges from Covid-19, uncertainty persists surrounding the future of the global natural gas sector.

GAS SET FOR INCLUSION IN EU TAXONOMY, BUT CONDITIONS APPLY

The likely inclusion of natural gas power plants in the EU’s taxonomy regulation has sparked controversy, but new investments will be subject to a number of conditions including hydrogen co-firing from 2026.

MEETING THE METHANE CHALLENGE

The climate warming impacts of methane are the latest target of choice for environmentalists, but a Canadian research organisation has been working for more than a decade to bring methane-reducing technologies to global markets.

BRAZIL’S GAS SECTOR STRUGGLES TO EVOLVE

Recent tender results shed light on state of play in a gas sector in a state of flux.

UZBEK GTL PLANT REACHES THE FINISH LINE

The project, well over a decade in the making, will provide Uzbekistan with synthetic fuels to ease a domestic supply crunch.

CCS: A NATURAL FIT FOR NATURAL GAS

CCS is by no means a cheap decarbonisation option, but it is one where the LNG sector can play a leading role.

EU LEGISLATION SUPPORTS GROWING MOMENTUM FOR CCS

After a number of setbacks in the past, ccs is gaining momentum in Europe, buoyed by an increasingly supportive EU regulatory framework and longterm climate targets.

THE BLUE HYDROGEN OPTION – IS IT CLIMATE FRIENDLY?

LNG producers need to double down in their focus on plant and supply chain emissions to play a role in blue hydrogen supply chains.

PAKISTAN’S LNG OPTIONS

Pakistan is suffering severe gas shortages and has reverted to fuel oil for power generation, owing to high LNG prices. If strong pricing deters investment in new LNG import capacity, shortages seem certain to persist.

COUNTRY FOCUS: PHILIPPINES

Gas supply from the mainstay Malampaya field is increasingly erratic and power demand has revived to postpandemic levels. As a result, LNG cannot arrive too soon in the Philippines.

QATAR PREPARES FOR LNG LIFT-OFF

State firm Qatarenergy is set to ramp up its lng capacity as it kicks off a raft of new longterm sales agreements.

THE THREE LEGS OF OUR LOW-CARBON STOOL

Advocates would have us all abandon fossil fuels today and wake up tomorrow to a zerocarbon world. The reality, however, is that a low-carbon future is a three-legged stool, and at least two of those legs, in one way or another, rely on fossil fuels.

DECIDING WHAT MAKES LNG GHG NEUTRAL

The international group of liquefied natural gas importers has crafted a framework for standardising when LNG can be considered GHG neutral, in order scale up a market that today is only miniscule in size

EVS GAIN SUPREMACY AS CHINA’S LOWCARBON TRANSPORT OF CHOICE

Natural gas vehicles are being edged out, amid a lack of policy support and shrinking economical advantages over other fuels.

PERMIAN PRODUCERS STEP UP EMISSIONS-CUTTING EFFORTS

Producers in the US permian basin are accelerating initiatives to cut emissions from their oil and gas operations in the region.