TNK-BP, a Russia-based oil and gas enterprise, has commenced its
first offshore drilling operations on the Lan Do field development
project offshore Vietnam. The Lan Do 2P well was spud on January 14,
2012.
Lan Do field contains 2 vertical sub-sea wells at a water
depth of about 185 meters and is located 28 kilometers east of Lan Tay
Platform in Block 06.1, where TNK-BP is producing natural gas and
condensate for power generation in Vietnam. The sub-sea wells drilling
will be tied back to Lan Tay Platform using a single 12-inch flow line.
Gas
production from Lan Do, which is scheduled to come on stream in the
fourth quarter of this year, is expected to bring 2 billion cubic meters
of gas annually to sustain Block 06.1's current production of 4.7
billion cubic meters.
Alexander Dodds, Executive vice president,
upstream, said: "Launching operations at the Lan Do field is a milestone
in TNK-BP's operational history. It will provide us with crucial
technical data and allow us to acquire unique new competencies in
offshore field development.
Monday 23 January 2012
Thursday 19 January 2012
The flow of port containers
Containers
that move through a container port are involved in four basic port activities:
(1)
receiving,
(2) loading/unloading,
(3) staging,
and (4) storage.
Import
containers enter theport via a ship and leave by an inland carrier; export
containers enter the port via an inland carrier and leave by ship. The
receiving activity occurs when a container arrives at the port. Its arrival
time and relevant information about the container, e.g., a description of its
cargo, are recorded. The container will then be unloaded from the ship or
vehicle and placed in the port’s storage area, where it will be retrieved in
the future to be loaded on another ship or vehicle for departure from the port.
For an
export container, staging is the activity of preparing the container to leave
the port by ship. Specifically, the container is moved from storage to a staging
location within the port to be with other containers that are waiting for the
arrival of a ship onto which they will be loaded. Containers in the staging
location are organized according to an optimal ship loading process, i.e., the
ship’s stowage plan. The plan may be one that seeks to minimize the time in the
loading/unloading of ship containers at the port and at future ports of call
and to provide stability to the ship. Suppose an export container arrives at
the port’s interchange gate by truck. Then, the truck moves to a location
within the port, where the container is removed from the truck and placed in
storage or at a staging location. If placed in a storage location, it will
eventually be moved to a staging location to wait the arrival of the specific
ship onto which it will be loaded. The ship on which an import container is
stowed docks at a berth of the port. The con-tainer is unloaded from the ship
by a ship-to-shore crane and placed on the port’s apron (the staging location).
From the staging location, the container is moved to a storage location or loaded
onto a truck for departure from the port. If placed in storage, it will
eventually be removed by loading it onto a truck or rail car for departure from
the port. The import container will
leave the port through its interchange gate. Containers may be stored on
chassis or stacked in a storage location. A chassis is a trailer on which a
container is carried when transported by a truck. Chassis storage is also
referred to as an all-wheeled storage operation. Port chassis storage has a
time advantage over stack storage for inland carriers and the port.
Specifically, over-the-road truckers while in port do not have to wait for a
container to be placed on a chassis as opposed to stack storage for departure
from the port, since the container is already on a chassis. The time savings
for inland carriers are also time savings for the port, since containers are in
storage less time.
A
disadvantage of an all-wheeled storage operation is that it is land intensive.
If port land is scarce and/or expensive, a port will likely utilize stack
storage. Stack storage occurs at a given location in the port, where containers
are stacked on top of each other. An advantage of stack storage is that
containers require less space and thus less land for storage. The disadvantage
of stack storage is the difficulty of retrieving and moving containers from and
to the storage location, making stack storage more time intensive than having
containers stored on chassis. Stack storage is also capital intensive, since it
requires specialized yard equipment for stacking and unstacking containers.
In addition
to import and export containers, a port’s containers may also be transshipment containers.
A transshipment container is one that arrives at a port on one ship and is then
transferred to another ship at the same port for departure, thereby not
utilizing inland carriers. A port that handles transshipment containers is
often referred to as a hub, main, or trans-shipment port. Such ports often have
depth harbors that allow them to handle relatively large containerships (carrying
large numbers of containers) that seek to call at a few ports so that they can
spend more time at sea in order to take advantage of economies of ship size at
sea. Examples of transshipment ports include Singapore, Hong Kong, and
Shanghai. For the years 2000–2004, transshipment containers in Europe and the
Mediterranean increased 58 percent (Penfold 2006).
Ports from
which containers are transported on relatively small or feeder ships to and from
main or transshipment ports are referred to as feeder ports. Containers
destined to transshipment ports from feeder ports are export containers of the
feeder ports but become transshipment containers of transshipment ports.
Containers destined to feeder ports from transshipment ports are transshipment
containers of transshipment ports but become import containers at feeder ports.
Unlike non-transshipment ports, transshipment ports that handle only
transshipment containers do not require inland interchange gates.
Port choice and shipping lines
If a shipping line seeks to maximize profits, it will have been rational in including a port in its vessel transportation network if the revenue from this decision exceeds the cost. What are the factors that affect the revenue received and cost incurred by a shipping line’s ship in the provision of service over a network? These factors may be described as determinants of a shipping line’s port choice. One such factor is port consignment size, i.e., the amount of cargo to be loaded on ships. The larger the port consignment size, the greater the likelihood that a shipping line will have its ships call at a given port.
A shipping line’s liner (scheduled service) pricing policy will also affect whether a port is included in a ship’s transportation network. Equalization liner pricing is a port-to-port liner pricing scheme whereby the freight rate (or price) for cargo is the same from any main port in a port range (on one end of a ship’s round-trip route) to any main port in a port range on the other end. If the shipper is responsible for inland transportation costs to and from ports, the shipper would minimize total transportation costs (ocean and inland) by having the cargo shipped to the port that is nearest to the shipper’s location. Thus, equalization liner pricing results in natural hinterlands for ports, contributing to ships having multiport itineraries and the duplication of port calls on a round trip over a given network.
Absorption liner pricing is a door-to-door liner pricing scheme whereby shippers are charged a door-to-door rate independent of port choice. The rate is payment for ocean and inland transportation services. Absorption pricing dissipates the natural hinterlands of ports. Also, it shifts the port choice decision from the shipper to the shipping line. Under absorp-tion pricing, the shipping line is responsible for obtaining land transportation carriers (e.g., truck and rail) for transportation of cargo to and from ports. In particular, the shipping line may use these carriers to transport cargo to and from one port in a range of ports. The port
where cargo is concentrated is often referred to as a load-center port. A load-center port allows the shipping line to use relatively large ships to call at the port and thus to take advan-tage of ship cost economies of ship size at sea by calling at fewer ports. The convexity ratio for ocean transportation is the ratio between maritime distance saved (or incurred) and inland distances thereby incurred (or saved) from a ship calling at a par-ticular port. A ship call at a neighboring port may add little to the maritime distance of trans-ported cargo, while perhaps achieving significant savings in inland distances, thereby increasing the likelihood that the ship will call at the neighboring port.
Shipping lines will seek to minimize the amount of time that larger ships are in port in order to take advantage of their ship cost economies of ship size at sea. Ports that can accommodate larger ships while maintaining fast ship turnaround times (i.e., time differences between ships entering and leaving a port) will likely see an increase in the number of calls by larger ships. Ports with relatively shallow water depths will likely experience a decline in ship calls over time as ships increase in size, conversely for ports with deep water depths.If a port in a port range charges significantly lower port prices to shipping lines than another port in this port range, the greater is the likelihood that the former port will be chosen by shipping lines over the latter port in this port range. Also, if one port has superior inland transportation connections, existing port relationships (or a service history) with a given shipping line, and closer access to trade lanes, the given shipping line is more likely to choose this port over another port in a port range. If one port in a range of ports is sub-ject to less port government regulation (e.g., economic, safety, and environmental regula-tion) than another port, the former will more likely be chosen as the port of call in this range than the latter, all else held constant.
Port calls may also be affected by mergers, acquisitions, and alliances in the shipping line industry. If a merger between two shipping lines occurs, a new shipping line is created con-sisting of the merged lines. If one shipping line acquires another through acquisition, the two shipping lines and their names will remain intact. The former line obtains ownership of the latter. Two or more shipping lines may also form an alliance to share ships. All three trans-actions – mergers, acquisitions, and alliances – may be undertaken to achieve lower unit costs through deployment of larger ships. If a shipping line that is involved in any one of these three transactions has dedicated marine terminals, the other lines involved in these transactions would be expected to shift their calls to these terminals and away from the common-user terminals (that were formerly used prior to the transactions) in a given port.
If the ownership of a port and/or its marine terminals changes, port calls by shipping lines may be affected. For example, a government-owned port may be privatized (i.e., sold to a private global terminal operator), resulting in an improvement in the quality of service pro-vided and, in turn, an increase in port calls. Also, a former common-user marine terminal may be leased to a shipping line to become the line’s dedicated terminal, therefore eliminat-ing calls of ships at this terminal except for those of its own ships and those of the affiliated (via an alliance) shipping lines.
A shipping line’s liner (scheduled service) pricing policy will also affect whether a port is included in a ship’s transportation network. Equalization liner pricing is a port-to-port liner pricing scheme whereby the freight rate (or price) for cargo is the same from any main port in a port range (on one end of a ship’s round-trip route) to any main port in a port range on the other end. If the shipper is responsible for inland transportation costs to and from ports, the shipper would minimize total transportation costs (ocean and inland) by having the cargo shipped to the port that is nearest to the shipper’s location. Thus, equalization liner pricing results in natural hinterlands for ports, contributing to ships having multiport itineraries and the duplication of port calls on a round trip over a given network.
Absorption liner pricing is a door-to-door liner pricing scheme whereby shippers are charged a door-to-door rate independent of port choice. The rate is payment for ocean and inland transportation services. Absorption pricing dissipates the natural hinterlands of ports. Also, it shifts the port choice decision from the shipper to the shipping line. Under absorp-tion pricing, the shipping line is responsible for obtaining land transportation carriers (e.g., truck and rail) for transportation of cargo to and from ports. In particular, the shipping line may use these carriers to transport cargo to and from one port in a range of ports. The port
where cargo is concentrated is often referred to as a load-center port. A load-center port allows the shipping line to use relatively large ships to call at the port and thus to take advan-tage of ship cost economies of ship size at sea by calling at fewer ports. The convexity ratio for ocean transportation is the ratio between maritime distance saved (or incurred) and inland distances thereby incurred (or saved) from a ship calling at a par-ticular port. A ship call at a neighboring port may add little to the maritime distance of trans-ported cargo, while perhaps achieving significant savings in inland distances, thereby increasing the likelihood that the ship will call at the neighboring port.
Shipping lines will seek to minimize the amount of time that larger ships are in port in order to take advantage of their ship cost economies of ship size at sea. Ports that can accommodate larger ships while maintaining fast ship turnaround times (i.e., time differences between ships entering and leaving a port) will likely see an increase in the number of calls by larger ships. Ports with relatively shallow water depths will likely experience a decline in ship calls over time as ships increase in size, conversely for ports with deep water depths.If a port in a port range charges significantly lower port prices to shipping lines than another port in this port range, the greater is the likelihood that the former port will be chosen by shipping lines over the latter port in this port range. Also, if one port has superior inland transportation connections, existing port relationships (or a service history) with a given shipping line, and closer access to trade lanes, the given shipping line is more likely to choose this port over another port in a port range. If one port in a range of ports is sub-ject to less port government regulation (e.g., economic, safety, and environmental regula-tion) than another port, the former will more likely be chosen as the port of call in this range than the latter, all else held constant.
Port calls may also be affected by mergers, acquisitions, and alliances in the shipping line industry. If a merger between two shipping lines occurs, a new shipping line is created con-sisting of the merged lines. If one shipping line acquires another through acquisition, the two shipping lines and their names will remain intact. The former line obtains ownership of the latter. Two or more shipping lines may also form an alliance to share ships. All three trans-actions – mergers, acquisitions, and alliances – may be undertaken to achieve lower unit costs through deployment of larger ships. If a shipping line that is involved in any one of these three transactions has dedicated marine terminals, the other lines involved in these transactions would be expected to shift their calls to these terminals and away from the common-user terminals (that were formerly used prior to the transactions) in a given port.
If the ownership of a port and/or its marine terminals changes, port calls by shipping lines may be affected. For example, a government-owned port may be privatized (i.e., sold to a private global terminal operator), resulting in an improvement in the quality of service pro-vided and, in turn, an increase in port calls. Also, a former common-user marine terminal may be leased to a shipping line to become the line’s dedicated terminal, therefore eliminat-ing calls of ships at this terminal except for those of its own ships and those of the affiliated (via an alliance) shipping lines.
Tuesday 17 January 2012
TTA expands operations in southern Vietnam
Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc., or TTA, has expanded its operations in southern Vietnam with key clients and stakeholders.
Baconco Co., Ltd. inaugurated its new 13,000 square meter facility, which houses the Company's expanded pesticide business and features additional warehouse space of 6,000 square meters. Simultaneously, Thoresen-Vinama Logistics Co., Ltd. (TVL), a subsidiary of Thoresen-VInama Agencies Co., Ltd. (TVA), opened its 16,000 square meter bonded warehouse in a nearby location.
Baconco and TVL's additional facilities combine to increase their total capacity by 500%, complementing TTA's other investment in the area, a 20% stake in Baria Serece, a deep water port in southern Vietnam (Phu My Port).
The construction of the bonded warehouse facility was completed over a six month period. The bonded warehouse facility is already filled to capacity, and Baconco's additional warehouse expects to receive its first bulk cargo imminently.
"We recognized the potential of the Ba Ria Vung Tau region several years ago and were bullish on its growth, along with the strong overall prospects of the Vietnamese economy," said M.L. Chandchutha Chandratat, TTA's President & CEO. "We have worked diligently over a number of years to develop an excellent platform that leverages TVA's skills and track record. Combined, TVA, TVL, Baconco, and Baria Serece are uniquely positioned to offer a full logistics solution with sea and land transport, warehousing, bagging, forwarding, and customs clearance. We believe that these services will support the continuing expansion of Phu My Port, while offering excellent synergies with many of TTA's other businesses, including Mermaid Maritime and our dry bulk shipping business, both of which regularly use Phu My port and its nearby facilities."
Baconco Co., Ltd. inaugurated its new 13,000 square meter facility, which houses the Company's expanded pesticide business and features additional warehouse space of 6,000 square meters. Simultaneously, Thoresen-Vinama Logistics Co., Ltd. (TVL), a subsidiary of Thoresen-VInama Agencies Co., Ltd. (TVA), opened its 16,000 square meter bonded warehouse in a nearby location.
Baconco and TVL's additional facilities combine to increase their total capacity by 500%, complementing TTA's other investment in the area, a 20% stake in Baria Serece, a deep water port in southern Vietnam (Phu My Port).
The construction of the bonded warehouse facility was completed over a six month period. The bonded warehouse facility is already filled to capacity, and Baconco's additional warehouse expects to receive its first bulk cargo imminently.
"We recognized the potential of the Ba Ria Vung Tau region several years ago and were bullish on its growth, along with the strong overall prospects of the Vietnamese economy," said M.L. Chandchutha Chandratat, TTA's President & CEO. "We have worked diligently over a number of years to develop an excellent platform that leverages TVA's skills and track record. Combined, TVA, TVL, Baconco, and Baria Serece are uniquely positioned to offer a full logistics solution with sea and land transport, warehousing, bagging, forwarding, and customs clearance. We believe that these services will support the continuing expansion of Phu My Port, while offering excellent synergies with many of TTA's other businesses, including Mermaid Maritime and our dry bulk shipping business, both of which regularly use Phu My port and its nearby facilities."
Monday 16 January 2012
Qatar Petroleum International, Petrovietnam, Thai Plastic and Chemicals, Vietnam National Chemical and SCG Chemicals to form joint venture
Qatar Petroleum International, Petrovietnam,Thai Plastic and
Chemicals Public Company Limited, Vietnam National Chemical Corporation
and SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd. have agreed to form a joint venture to build
a $4,000 million worth Long Son petrochemical project in Vietnam.
Qatar Petroleum International is a Qatar-based investment arm of Qatar Petroleum, where as Petrovietnam is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production; Vietnam National Chemical is a manufacturer of chemicals, household products, and batteries; SCG Chemicals is a manufacturer and supplier of a range of petrochemical products; and Thai Plastic and Chemicals is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of polyvinyl chloride polymer.
Both Vietnam National Chemical and Petrovietnam are based in Vietnam, where as SCG Chemicals and Thai Plastic and Chemicals are based in Thailand.
Under the terms of the agreement, Qatar Petroleum International will invest $1,000 million in the project for a 25% stake. The project will be managed by Long Son Petrochemical, Ltd., in which PetroVietnam holds 18% stake, Vietnam National Chemical (11%), SCG Chemicals (53%) and Thai Plastics and Chemicals (18%).
Qatar Petroleum International is a Qatar-based investment arm of Qatar Petroleum, where as Petrovietnam is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production; Vietnam National Chemical is a manufacturer of chemicals, household products, and batteries; SCG Chemicals is a manufacturer and supplier of a range of petrochemical products; and Thai Plastic and Chemicals is engaged in the manufacture and distribution of polyvinyl chloride polymer.
Both Vietnam National Chemical and Petrovietnam are based in Vietnam, where as SCG Chemicals and Thai Plastic and Chemicals are based in Thailand.
Under the terms of the agreement, Qatar Petroleum International will invest $1,000 million in the project for a 25% stake. The project will be managed by Long Son Petrochemical, Ltd., in which PetroVietnam holds 18% stake, Vietnam National Chemical (11%), SCG Chemicals (53%) and Thai Plastics and Chemicals (18%).
New Container Terminal
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority has entered an agreement with local blue chip conglom-erate Aitken Spence and Hong Kong-based port operator China Merchant Holdings to build a new container terminal. The first container terminal would be located at the new deepwater port that is to be built next to the Port of Colombo. The new South Container Terminal will include an invest-ment of US$500mn and will be managed by Colombo International Container Terminals. We have long argued that without expansion of its port sector, Sri Lanka would not be able to play a major role in Asian transhipment.
Sri Lanka’s business environment score is 42.7.
Sri Lanka’s business environment score is 42.7.
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