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Page added on September 20, 2015
The Dragon Ships Are Coming
Something exciting is happening and it involves dragon ships that will transport Marcellus Shale gas to European markets as an alternative to Russian gas.
Range Resources and INEOS have partnered to export Ethane from Marcellus Shale across the Atlantic Ocean, to European Countries, via ship. At 2:43 in the video following they show the Markwest cracker plant, here in Houston, Pennsylvania (Washington County), where they will be supplying Ethane for this. The Ethane is being shipped via the Mariner East I Pipeline, which recently opened, to the Marcus Hook facility in Philadelphia, where “dragon ships” will be loaded for transport to Europe.
INEOS also partnered with Danish Shipping Company Evergas in 2013 to transport it to the European Countries who need Ethane to keep their chemical plants in operation. This project is employing ten’s of thousands of workers, in several countries to build the ships. some four ships were first ordered, then the order was upped to eight to meet demands.
The first two ships have been completed and have been put into service.
HSVA in Hamburg Germany designed the haul of the ships to meet the special needs involved to transport Ethane. The engine was designed by Wartsila in Spain. It was specially designed to run entirely on Ethane.
This world’s first engine design will reduce emissions and allow more room for cargo. Sinopacific in China was chosen to construct the Dragon ships. They are one of the biggest ship builders in the world. The ships tanks are the largest ever built for this purpose. They will carry a total of 27,000 cubic meters of Ethane.
Each ship requires 5,000 people and takes 2 million man hours to build. The ships needed to be built to meet a deadline for the first delivery in October, 2015. The project took five years in the making and spans three continents.
The first two ships were officially named the JS INEOS Ingenuity and the JS INEOS Insight in a ceremony attended by delegates from around the world. They will be the first to set sail to pick up their cargo here in the US.
As Range Resources motto states, “Drilling Is Just The Beginning.”
25 Comments on "The Dragon Ships Are Coming"
dissident on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 7:55 pm
Any more company promotion pamphlets for our “erudition”?
What a joke. The US can’t eat its tight gas and export it too. All those coal to gas power plant conversions and big plans to power transport fleets with CNG are somehow ignored in all the BS “reserve” estimates.
Big, bad Russian gas. Cheaper than any LNG, but bad anyway. Good thing China is seeing a chance to get what the EU idiots took for granted. Let the EU enjoy its expensive LNG from the USA in volumes much less than anything it could get from Russia.
apneaman on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 8:01 pm
SPACEX SHOWS OFF INTERIOR OF ITS NEW CREW DRAGON SHIP
http://nycity.today/content/285144-spacex-shows-interior-its-new-crew-dragon-ship
Makati1 on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 8:04 pm
LNG to Europe? From the US? LMAO!
Plantagenet on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 8:05 pm
1. The US doesn’t “eat” tight gas so of course it can export it. According to President Obama the US ha a 100-year-long supply of NG, so export is not problem for the USA.
2. Transport fleets powered with CNG aren’t a myth. Go visit New Delhi in India—tens of thousands of tuk tuk taxis there are powered by CNG.
3. Russian NG is definitely NOT cheaper then US NG —the current price on the spot market puts Russian NG at several times the prices of US NG.
CHEERS!
Davy on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 8:08 pm
Was this article before or after the financial crash? I don’t think all that gas is going to be needed when things really start decelerating. We are entering the time of year when markets catch cold and the market is already sick, pneumonia anyone? Oh, the sales pitch sounds so impressive and get this, the Russians get a boot in their ass as the cereal box price. How much more perfect can that be. I am so sick and tired of this type of hype out of the American business elites. I am so glad I got out of that slimy way of life and into something looked down upon by these people and that is goat farming.
Plantagenet on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 8:25 pm
@ Davy
The gas will be needed to supplement and replace oil.
Once we hit peak oil the world is going to scramble for other energy sources. NG will definitely be part of the energy mix after peak oil.
Davy on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 8:45 pm
Come on planter, you don’t really believe gas is a substitute to oil do you? We have an economy already in deceleration and you want to talk about a NatGas revolution. You remind me of the greenies and their AltE utopia. You guys have great imagination but are reality “lite”.
PO is the end planter. The economic descent we are in is the end planter. Embrace doom planter and you will be liberated from being an quack.
GregT on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 8:57 pm
“Embrace doom planter and you will be liberated from being an quack.”
Nice try Davy, you should know better. Once a quack, always a quack. You can’t fix stupid.
coffeeguyzz on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 9:10 pm
Dragon Ships … Catchy title, no?
If you all wanted a quick intro on the differences between LNG, CNG, NGLs, and ethane in particular, (which is what this article is primarily about), you might want to check it out. You may be surprised at what you discover.
The screen you are reading this on, your keyboard, mouse … most every plasticized component all around you, comes largely from ethane.
When ethane and other NGLs are effectively removed from the gas stream, the remaining natgas, essentially methane, is what is burned for heat, light, electrical generation, etc.
The existing Mariner I pipeline will transport 70,000 barrels/day of NGLs to Marcus Hook when it reaches full capacity in a few weeks.
When the twin pipelines of Mariner II are built/brought into service at the end of next year, an additional 500,000 bbld capacity will be available.
Running out soon? For anyone to hold that view would display a huge degree of unawareness of the goings on in the Appalachian Basin.
apneaman on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 9:25 pm
coffeeguyzz, plenty of methane right around the corner – more than you could ever dream of. BTW, which commenter here said anything about “Running out soon?” I don’t see it. You can show me the quote eh?
GregT on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 10:00 pm
“Running out soon? For anyone to hold that view would display a huge degree of unawareness of the goings on in the Appalachian Basin.”
Most of us here realize that to be a really bad thing. Much worse than running out, which will also happen.
Newfie on Sun, 20th Sep 2015 10:26 pm
The headline should be The Deserts are Coming. Climate change induced mega-drought will transform most of the continental USA into an arid desert by the end of the century. While low lying coastal areas including half of Florida will be under water. Source: NASA.
Nony on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 1:02 am
1. Most the commenters here (excepting Coffee) don’t understand that this is an ethane project and how that is different from methane.
2. Stunning heavy metal advance: great engineering and project management and even commercial oversight and deals to put this whole scheme together.
3. Ethane is cheap (even cheaper than expected a couple years ago when the project got the go ahead). And then as it is coming out of Marcellus, it’s even cheaper than low Belview prices. Right now being rejected into NG. Cheaper and more plentiful than anything in the project justifications.
4. The fly in the ointment is the oil price crash. “POD” (100+ Brent prices) took a big rock to the head and prices are now around $50. Consequently naphtha prices have dropped to half previous and ethane is no longer so competitive with naptha as to justify more ships.
Jimmy on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 1:07 am
Yeah I can see Planter riding a tuk tuk around Alaska this winter. Using transport fleet and tuk tuk in the same paragraph makes you look like a retard. As you usually do.
idontknowmyself on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 1:20 am
BTU content of diesel fuel 128488 Btu/gal
BTU content of LNG 84 250 Btu/gal
BTU content of Ethanol 76,330 Btu/gal
There is a reason why combustion engine are powered by Diesel not LNG.
There is much more energy in diesel then LNG.
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/fuel_comparison_chart.pdf
apneaman on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 1:22 am
Nony, most the commenters here don’t give a shit about the minutia of the last gasp, drop in the bucket industrial schemes. This is just the dregs and changes nothing. But you go right ahead and cling to what little you can while you can. Your psyche is one of many bubbles that will soon be popped. Stunning!
idontknowmyself on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 1:22 am
The fact the we are using LNG and compressed gas is an indicator of advance depletion of oil well.
rockman on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 6:00 am
“The US doesn’t “eat” tight gas so of course it can export it.” And the US is still a net importer of NG. Granted not by much but we still consume more NG then we produce. And as pointed out the subject isn’t about NG but ethane…a completely different commodity.
Yes: US NG is cheaper the Russian NG. So what: there is no way to export US NG to Russia. But we could export US LNG to the EU. Which would cost considerably more then pipelined Russian NG. Double Da! LOL
Boat on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 8:43 am
Rock,
Wouldn’t the LNG go to the higher bidder which is Japan at the moment?
Boat on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 8:49 am
Huge finds of nat gas seem to happening all over the place. Israel and Egypt to name a couple. Bad for climate change but good for cheaper products and cheaper electricity.As the world slowly changes to an electric economy many more humans will enjoy a better standard of living.
ghung on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 9:22 am
“Huge finds…” Define “huge”, Boat.
Boat on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 9:30 am
gung,
Projected to be exporters instead of importers.
Nony on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 10:37 am
Article is about C2, not C1. And the comments being made about LNG are not even new comments. This is about the hundredth time Rock has said we still import natural gas.
C2, C2, C2.
GregT on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 10:48 am
“Bad for climate change but good for cheaper products and cheaper electricity.”
Herein lies the dilemma Boat. Cheaper consumer products and cheaper electricity, or a planet capable of sustaining life as we know it. We can’t have both for much longer.
JuanP on Mon, 21st Sep 2015 3:04 pm
I promise I will eat my own shit the day Europe replaces Russian gas with American LNG. I promise!