LNG

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG) IS EXPERIENCING A SIGNIFICANT UPSWING, NOT LEAST BECAUSE IT IS EASIER ON THE ENVIRONMENT THAN OTHER FOSSIL FUELS. BILFINGER BERGER IS INVOLVED IN SEVERAL MAJOR LNG PROJECTS.

In the past two decades, natural gas has become a hugely important source of energy, second only to oil. Natural gas meets nearly a quarter of the world’s energy needs—in Europe the figure stands at one third. At present, almost half the gas consumed in the EU is imported via pipelines, mainly from Russia. In the future, however, European countries aim to make increasing use of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, shipped by tanker from Algeria, West Africa, the Middle East, Trinidad and Tobago and, starting in autumn 2007, Norway.

To date, LNG has been the preferred choice of countries poorly served by pipelines. Japan, for example, imports around 45 percent of global LNG production.There are several reasons for the increasing European interest in liquefied gas. CO2 emissions need to be reduced quickly and with sustained effect, and in comparison with oil, burning natural gas is substantially easier on the climate. Further, as the demand for natural gas rises, over-dependence on Russian supplies is regarded as increasingly risky. What’s more, in recent years new technology has substantially reduced the cost of LNG, thereby increasing its attraction even for those countries that could just as easily be supplied by pipeline.

NIGERIA EXPANDS LNG PRODUCTION
In Nigeria, an exporter of LNG, Bilfinger Berger participated in constructing the country’s first gas liquefaction plant via its affiliate Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, some ten years ago. There, on Bonny Island in the Niger Delta, natural gas is cooled in several stages to a temperature of minus 163 degrees Celsius until it liquefies. With its volume thereby reduced by a factor of around six hundred, the liquefied gas can then be shipped in specially designed tankers. Nigeria has the world’s seventh largest reserves of natural gas, but markets in Europe and US are too far away to be served by pipelines, so the Nigerians rely on shipping to export their gas resources. Liquefied gas thus has an important future ahead of it. In recent years, around 12 billion US dollars have been invested in the sector in Nigeria—a level of investment exceeded only in Qatar.The production capacities on Bonny Island are constantly being expanded, with a sixth processing plant due to enter service at the end of 2007. There are also plans for two more large LNG plants on the Nigerian coast, and in both cases Bilfinger Berger hopes to be involved.

EUROPE TURNS TO IMPORTS
In Nigeria, Bilfinger Berger carries out the complex infrastructure works for LNG plants. The focus in Europe, however, is on services and maintenance works, for example in Norway where 16 percent of the gross national product is generated by the oil and gas industry. Norway is now entering the LNG business, having constructed Europe’s first gas liquefaction plant near Hammerfest. On a yearly basis, the plant is expected to ship six billion cubic meters of LNG worldwide. The plant is also the first facility that does not simply discharge the CO2 contained in the gas, but compresses it instead and pumps it back underground. Insulation, anti-corrosion protection and a series of maintenance tasks have been entrusted to Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services until 2016.

Import terminals have sprung up in a dozen or more ports around the European coastline in recent years where gas liquefied for transport is returned to its original physical condition and piped to consumers. Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services has played a part in building such regasification terminals in Portugal, Spain and France. One such plant is currently under construction on the French Mediterranean coast near Marseilles, where Bilfinger Berger is handling the low-temperature insulation for the complete piping system.This calls for considerable technical expertise because the insulation consists of multiple individual layers. As the LNG is offloaded, it flows through these pipes into storage tanks. In view of the low volume of the gas in a liquid state, huge quantities can be held in store, among other reasons to provide a buffer when energy supplies are short. The LNG is warmed and reconverted into natural gas when it is needed.

THE WAY OUT OF THE ENERGY CRISIS
According to forecasts by the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2030 some 20 trillion dollars will have to be invested in safeguarding the world’s energy supplies. If we are to halt global warming at the same time, we can only do so by making use of resources that emit substantially less CO2 than oil or coal. Natural gas has an important role to play, given that as long as the world’s appetite for energy goes unchecked, we cannot manage without fossil fuels. At present levels of demand, however, the million-year-old deposits of gas have a statistical lifetime of about 60 years. By then the earth’s resources may well be exhausted.

(Text: Daniela Simpson)