Oil & Gas

From exploration to distribution

Week 4 V28 Gas logistics
Ludivine Pidol

W4V28 - Gas logistics p. 1

IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

Gas transport
As explained previously, natural gas is the third primary energy source in the world behind
oil and coal . And production is expected to increase in the next decades. In this lecture, we
will discuss gas transport and gas storage.
As their name indicates, gas pipelines are similar to oil pipelines except that they transport
natural gas. There are two types of gas pipeline:
1. Some are underwater, such as those linking Norwegian gas fields to European
terminals or North Africa to Sicily.
2. Others are overland, such as those that make up the Russian network or between
Canada and the United States. For safety and security reasons, these networks are
buried underground.
Inside the pipelines, gas circulates at high speed. Its pressure is increased by compressor
plants located at regular intervals along the network.
Natural gas is mostly transported by pipeline. This is
because, for the same amount of energy, the volume of
natural gas is six hundred times higher than oil, which is
liquid. This means that it is far too costly to transport
natural gas by ship in gaseous form.
In some cases, it is impossible to build gas pipelines because
the terrain or climate is too hostile. Sometimes, building this
kind of infrastructure costs too much, because of the
distances involved - for example when transporting Qatari
gas to Japan. Liquefaction and shipping are a way of
bypassing these constraints and of connecting producer and
consumer countries more easily.

To liquify the gas, the natural gas is cooled to minus one

hundred and sixty degrees celsius. Remember: the gas
liquefaction process was explained last week. At -160C, gas
becomes liquid and takes up six hundred times less space,
which makes it much less costly to transport. LNG is then
loaded into specially built LNG tankers, which keep it at a
low temperature.
There are currently several hundreds of LNG tankers sailing
the world's oceans. LNG tankers keep the gas at -160C for
many thousands of miles as they wend their way around the
oceans.
There are two main types of LNG tanker currently in use:
First, we have the tankers with insulated spherical
aluminum tanks.
The other type of tanker is a membrane tanker, where the
ship's double hull constitutes the tank's outer wall.
W4V28 - Gas logistics p. 2
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

For safety reasons, the ship must be very carefully driven, operated, and maintained by the
crew: they have to monitor temperature and pressure, they have to inspect the tanks
according to rigorous procedures, etc. Tanks are also subject to some of the most stringent
construction regulations.
LNG transport is a promising sector for the energy supply of the States. Indeed, a cargo of
LNG can be redirected while en route, in contrast to gas transported by pipeline. This
flexibility is greatly appreciated.
Moreover, for long distances, transport by tanker is more economical than by gas pipeline,
even though the LNG industry uses high-grade and therefore costly materials.

Gas storage
When Natural Gas or Liquefied Natural Gas arrives at the terminal, it can be stored in liquid
or gaseous form, before being injected into the distribution network.
Indeed, natural gas consumption varies according to the season and differences in heating
needs. For example, the French consume 8 times more natural gas in Winter than in
Summer. Therefore, natural gas must be stored in order to match supply to demand in real
time.
There are two storage methods:
1. in liquid
2. or in gaseous form.
First, the LNG is accumulated in giant spherical tanks in liquefied form at low temperature.
Before delivery to the final consumer, the LNG is re/gasified by heating. This is done using
the heat from seawater, or by heating the water that provides the energy to regasify the
LNG. And because natural gas has no odor, it is given a smell or "odorized" using an additive,
so that it can be easily detected in the event of a leak.
Finally, the gas produced is shipped through the natural gas transport network until it
reaches the final consumer.

W4V28 - Gas logistics p. 3

IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

Gas can also be stored in a natural underground reservoir. To do this, an enclosed reservoir
measuring several billions of cubic meters is needed. There are about six hundred
underground sites with a total capacity of gas equivalent to about ten percent of annual
worldwide global consumption. Most of these reservoirs are located in the US (about four
hundred sites) while Europe has about one hundred and thirty.

W4V28 - Gas logistics p. 4

IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015