Natural Gas News – August 28, 2018

Natural Gas News – August 28, 2018

India’s Biggest Gas Utility is Opening Up Its Pipeline Network

Bloomberg reported: India’s largest natural gas pipeline operator has invited users to book surplus network capacity online as the country prepares to create a distribution hub that sets benchmark prices. State-run GAIL India Ltd., which controls 70 percent of the nation’s network, on Monday launched a website for online bookings of pipeline capacity to ship gas across the country. GAIL, with 11,400 kilometers (7,084 miles) pipelines, is investing 250 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) to add another 5,000 kilometers, Chairman Bhuwan Chandra Tripathi said. Greater sharing of infrastructure will allow quicker trading and movement of natural gas supplies and boost utilization of GAIL’s pipelines. India, home to some of the world’s most polluted cities, is seeking to cut emissions and its oil import bill by doubling the share of gas in the energy mix to 15 percent. “This is going to pave the foundation for the gas hub,” Tripathi said. “The online booking allows transparent and hassle-free access and increases the ease of operations, and pushes the country toward a gas-based economy.”

Texas Oil Producers: Trade War Puts U.S. Oil & Gas Sector at Risk

Oil Price reports: The U.S.-China trade tensions—which continue to escalate despite last week’s talks—risk backfiring on the American oil and gas sector, slowing down investments in long -term projects, a Texas energy group says in yet another warning that escalation of the trade war would ultimately hurt the U.S. energy industry and related services and goods. The Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO)—a trade association representing the interests of nearly 3,000 independent oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners throughout Texas— issued last week a new warning about the potential fallout of additional tariffs, if the tit-for-tat continues and China were to slap tariffs on imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), although crude oil appears safe from tariffs for now. China slapped tariffs last week on imports of U.S. oil products and coal.