'Market for LNG to double'

The global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) will double in the next eight years, the head of Algeria's state oil and gas company predicted yesterday at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid.

Madrid: Mohamed Meziane, the chief executive at Sonatrach, also forecast that world LNG shipments will expand by eight per cent annually until 2020 as the volume of LNG spot trades grows on international markets. Last year, the value of global LNG trade was about US$63.7 billion (Dh233.8bn), based on figures published in the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Mr Meziane's projections suggest that the market could grow to at least $127bn by 2016, and possibly much more in the light of rising gas prices. Mr Meziane's forecast, reported by Dow Jones Newswires, followed news that Exxon Mobil, the US energy company, plans to bring significant Middle Eastern LNG supplies to market in the next two years.

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Dockers strike cuts Greek imports 11 pct-merchants

Strikes by dockworkers have led to cargo pile-ups at ports and slashed container imports to Greece by 11 percent, a merchant association said on Wednesday.

Dockers at Piraeus (OLP) and Thessaloniki ports (OLTH) have been refusing to work overtime and have staged rolling 24-hour strikes since January to protest at government plans to privatise cargo operations. "Imports have already dropped 11 percent with exports down by more than 8 percent so far this year," said Vassilis Korkidis, head of the merchant association at Greece's largest port, Piraeus, which handles three-quarters of the country's container traffic. OLP, which reported a first quarter loss of 5 million euros ($7.89 million) due to the strikes, has said full-year results will be in the red if labour action persists. Last month, OLP picked China's Cosco, the world's fifth largest port operator, to run two of its container piers for up to 35 years. Greek dockers have said they will continue with labour action in July and could even refuse to work overtime until the end of the year.

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Russian H1 oil output falls first time in decade

Russian oil output edged up 0.3 percent in June from the previous month, but was down almost 1 percent in the first half of the year, casting further doubts over the government's goal to sustain growth this year. Russian officials still hope production would slightly rise this year as the government seeks to avert the first annual decline in output since 1998. But analysts say Russia cannot sustain production growth, at least not until next year when new fields in East Siberia will come onstream to compensate for falling production from depleted deposits in West Siberia. Stagnant Russian production has been a concern for global oil markets in the past year. Crude prices are at record highs over $140 a barrel and the International Energy Agency predicts that supplies will fail to keep up with demand in the long term.
The decline also comes as Russia's No.3 oil producer TNK-BP, half owned by BP, warns that its output growth is at risk this year due to a protracted corporate conflict between BP and its Russian billionaires co-owners over the firm's strategy and management tactics.
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MHI delivers 300th ship to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines at Nagasaki Shipyard

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has delivered the "MOL COMPETENCE," a large-size container ship, to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) at the Koyagi Plant of MHI's Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works.

The container ship marks the 300th vessel delivered from MHI to MOL. The 8,100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), 90,000 gross ton "MOL COMPETENCE" is the largest container ship built by MHI. It is one of a series of ships targeting reduced weight and improved transportation efficiency through features including the world's first adoption of higher tensile strength steel (HTSS) with yield stress of 47 kgf/mm2 for longitudinal strength members, the most important parts of a container ship's hull. The HTSS was jointly developed by MHI and Nippon Steel Corporation. MHI believes that the customer's high appraisal of the company's technological expertise in shipbuilding and the reliability of the ships it has delivered resulted in the delivery of 300 vessels to MOL, which includes many historic ships with their innovativeness.

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MHI delivers 300th ship to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines at Nagasaki Shipyard

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has delivered the "MOL COMPETENCE," a large-size container ship, to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) at the Koyagi Plant of MHI's Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works.

The container ship marks the 300th vessel delivered from MHI to MOL. The 8,100 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), 90,000 gross ton "MOL COMPETENCE" is the largest container ship built by MHI. It is one of a series of ships targeting reduced weight and improved transportation efficiency through features including the world's first adoption of higher tensile strength steel (HTSS) with yield stress of 47 kgf/mm2 for longitudinal strength members, the most important parts of a container ship's hull. The HTSS was jointly developed by MHI and Nippon Steel Corporation. MHI believes that the customer's high appraisal of the company's technological expertise in shipbuilding and the reliability of the ships it has delivered resulted in the delivery of 300 vessels to MOL, which includes many historic ships with their innovativeness.

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