Underground Construction - November 2020 - 23

Energy Pipeline Construction, Market Trends
Consensus forecasts call for gas demand to rise 4-6 percent
in 2020, down from an estimated 10 percent growth rate in
2019, while LNG imports are projected to grow by 4 percent this
year compared with earlier expectations of 12-14 percent. But
economic recovery appears sluggish even in those areas where the
virus is all but eradicated - a pattern repeated in other growth
regions of Asia - and projections remain fluid.
China's COVID-19 infections peaked early, and pipeline work
on some major projects restarted as early as February, including
the 690-mile middle section of the China-Russia east-route
natural gas pipeline. The middle section stretches from Changling
County in the northeastern Jilin Province to Yongqing County in
the northern Hebei Province, connecting with the north section
that entered service last year. The middle section is scheduled for
startup in late 2020.
India has emerged as a hotspot for natural gas pipeline
construction in the region as it seeks to double the share of gas in
its energy mix to 15 percent by 2030. To achieve this, companies
are investing $60 billion in a network to expand LNG import
facilities in the west and build pipelines connecting them to every
state before the current government's term ends in mid-2024,
according to India's energy minister.
One major project already well underway by India's biggest gas
utility, Gail Ltd, is the 1,660-mile Urja Ganga pipeline project,
which will connect the eastern states of Bihar, West Bengal,

Jharkhand and Odisha, with a capacity of 16 MMscf/d- an amount
equal to roughly 10 percent of India's total daily consumption.
Gail hopes to bring the system online by the end of this year.
A northeast gas grid is also under construction to connect
eight states in northeastern India, a region bordering Bhutan,
Myanmar, Bangladesh and China, with completion expected in
2023. Earlier this year, India approved funding for a $774 million
gas pipeline in the region.
In addition to the gas buildout, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum
and Hindustan Petroleum formed a consortium last year to
construct the 1,700-mile Kandla-Gorakhpur liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG) pipeline. The project, scheduled for completion in 2024,
will source LPG from west coast import terminals and supply
bottling plants along the route.

Europe
Declining domestic production and increasing natural gas
demand have made Europe a natural target for pipeline gas
and LNG exporters, prompting an uptick in infrastructure
construction in recent years.
Gazprom has targeted Europe with major natural gas pipelines
across the Baltic and Black Seas, including TurkStream, which
is already flowing, and Nord Stream 2, which has only a short
stretch of construction and some U.S. sanctions standing in the
way of its completion.

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Underground Construction - November 2020

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