All Gas, No Methane

Good Afternoon. This is the Sunya Scoop. The newsletter that takes energy transition news and turns it into an easy-to-read email for you.

Author

Sunya Scoop
January 12, 2023

Good Afternoon. This is the Sunya Scoop. The newsletter that takes energy transition news and turns it into an easy-to-read email for you. 

Here's what we have for you today:

  • Appalachian Methane Initiative

  • Japanese LNG expansion

  • IEA releases 2023 report

  • A group of major players in the industry just launched the Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI) to step up methane monitoring and emissions reductions in the region.

  • The coalition is committed to enhancing methane monitoring throughout the Appalachian Basin and facilitating additional methane emissions reductions in the region

  • Founding members of AMI include Chesapeake Energy, EQT Corporation, and Equitrans Midstream, bringing together 2 of the top 5 US nat gas producers

  • The AMI plans to use coordinated satellite and aerial surveys to identify and fix potential methane leaks, and will be sharing best practices and results through transparent reporting.

  • Starting with a 2023 pilot, they hope to expand covering the whole basin in the future.

  • This is a big move for the industry, showing a commitment to reducing their environmental impact and positioning natural gas as a cleaner energy source.

  • Seems like a solid move to collaborate to reduce costs in the arena as well as stay ahead of the upcoming industry wide impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which includes a new excess methane fee under the Methane Emissions Reduction Program that kicks in for calendar year 2024.

  • On the heels of last week's rumor of Tokyo Gas taking out Rockcliff Energy for $4.6bn, another Japanese player hits the headlines

  • Inpex Corp, Japan's top dog in oil and natural gas exploration, is stepping on the gas (pun intended) with their expansion of production and sales of LNG. Why? Because the LNG market is incredibly tight in the mid-term.

  • The global gas supply chains have shifted, Europe wants more LNG to replace Russia's pipeline gas, the US is boosting LNG exports, and Russia is looking to provide more gas to India and China through pipelines.

  • Inpex is on track to boost an annual production of Ichthys (offshore Australia) to 9.3 million tonnes in 2024 from 8.9 million tonnes now and will explore the surrounding areas for additional gas sources while accelerating its consideration of an expansion of the project in around 2030

  • They're aiming to make a final investment decision on Indonesia's Abadi LNG project in the latter half of this decade and start production early in the next.

  • Inpex also announced a 20-year deal with a US-based company to import 1 million tonnes per year of LNG.

  • They're aiming to boost their LNG dealing volume, through output and trading, to 10 million tonnes by 2030 from about 7 million now.

The latest IEA report is out with some bold predictions and a very pretty cover

  • They're saying that we're entering a new age of clean tech manufacturing and countries' industrial strategies will be key to success.

  • The global market for key mass-manufactured clean energy technologies will be worth around $650 billion a year by 2030. That's more than three times today's level.

  • If countries follow through with their announced energy and climate pledges, the related clean energy manufacturing jobs would more than double from 6 million today to nearly 14 million by 2030.

  • But here's the catch, the current supply chains of clean energy technologies present risks in the form of high geographic concentrations of resource mining and processing as well as technology manufacturing.

  • For example, China is dominant in the manufacturing of Solar Panels, wind turbines, EV batteries, electrolysers and heat pumps.

  • And a lot of the mining for critical minerals is concentrated in a small number of countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo produces over 70% of the world's cobalt and just three countries – Australia, Chile and China – account for more than 90% of global lithium production.

  • So, it's important for countries to diversify their supply chains to avoid risks and secure a place in the new global energy economy.

That's a wrap for today. If you like what you read, send to a friend. 

If someone forwarded you this and you liked it, consider subscribing below.

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.