05.07.2009

National Grid (formerly Transco) is an international electricity and gas company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world.

UK retail (Centrica), Gas transportation (Transco, subsequently acquired by National Grid) and International production (BG Group)

National Grid plays a vital role in delivering gas and electricity to many millions of people across Great Britain and northeastern US. National Grid owns and operates the electricity transmission network in England and Wales (comprised of approximately 7,200 km of overhead line, about 675 km of underground cable and 337 substations); the gas transmission network in Great Britain (comprised of approximately 7,400 km of high pressure pipe and 26 compressor stations, connecting to 8 distribution networks and to third party independent systems for onward transportation of gas to end consumers); and electricity transmission networks in the northeastern US and are also responsible for the operation of the electricity transmission networks in Scotland.

National Grid also owns and operates four LNG storage facilities in Great Britain. It is the company which runs the ‘Balancing Mechanism’ and electricity transmission system in England and Wales and is responsible for the maintenance and safety of the gas supply network up to and including the gas meter. National Grid is also responsible for registering the gas supply contract between a consumer and supplier, for nominating the Annual Quantity and allocating Meter Point Reference Numbers

Five groups participated in the tender to update the Israeli natural gas master plan. The UK Advantica company won the tender in December 2008. The tender is to update the masterplan that was first written in 1999 and updated in 2003. The plan is to inter alia include implementation of the government’s decision regarding construction of an eastern section of the natural gas pipeline from Gezer to Hagit, the penetration of new consumers into the market, the requirements of all the power stations for natural gas and the future construction of an LNG regasification facility in Israel. The new masterplan is to cover the period up to 2020

Short piece of pipe, especially if threaded at both ends with male threads. A tubular pipe fitting threaded on both ends used for making connections between pipe joints and other tools

Namely, state owned oil companies. The national oil companies typically do not operate strictly on the basis of market principles. Because of their close ties to the national government, in many cases their objectives might include wealth re-distribution, jobs creation, general economic development, economic and energy security, and vertical integration. Although these objectives might be desirable from the point of view of the nation’s government, they are unlikely to be equivalent to the maximization of shareholder value, the stated objective of the private international oil companies. Many of these companies have been found to be inefficient, with relatively low investment rates. They tend to exploit oil reserves for short-term gain, possibly damaging oil fields, reducing the longer term production potential. Some also have limited access to international capital markets because of poor business practices and a lack of transparency in their business deals. The evolving strength of the NOCs may affect the availability of supply in the oil market and hence security of supply. Many NOCs have stagnant or falling oil production due to civil unrest, government interference, corruption, inefficiency, and diversion of capital to social spending

As the most versatile of the fossil fuels, gas lends itself to a range of decentralized applications, including devices called fuel cells, which use hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity through an electrochemical process.

In addition, natural gas as the most flexible and sustainable fuel source is also the best back up for unpredictable supply patterns of renewable supply energy sources, such as wind and solar and it thus is the cornerstone of sustainable energy. In the long run, natural gas is likely to become a “bridge” to non-polluting hydrogen fuels and renewable energ.

In addition, the great flexibility of gas enables to use it for both baseload and peak electricity power station and also allows the establishment of small scale, non coastal based power stations. In many countries, including in Israel, coal is the mainstay fuel and whenever coal is cheaper it is dispatched for base load operation before gas fired units. Coal is thus used as base load operation because it has lower variable operating costs than alternative fuels. Capital costs considerations dominate the choice of power plants at peak load operation because it is used for only a short time. In Israel, peak load operation natural gas fired power plants have displaced liquid fuels.
Gas fired power plants have a capital cost advantage over coal fired power plants and are cheaper than liquid fuels. Natural gas is a reliable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective fuel. It has significant advantages over coal (a low quality fuel) and is often a particularly attractive option because of its relatively low capital construction cost; its lower operating and maintenance costs – it costs more to run a coal plant because it is a more complex technology requiring more employees, more costly equipment to maintain and purchase of more commodities such as limestone to remove sulphur dioxide; its shorter construction lead times (which is important in countries where there is an expected deficit in generation capacity); its relatively high fuel conversion efficiency; its lower environmental impact; its higher flexibility of operation; the fact that smaller plants can be constructed, even plants dedicated in the back yard of industrial consumers; natural gas plants can be established in-land and not solely on the restricted coastal plains where coal stations must be constructed (need coal jetty)

A company’s working interest minus royalties paid to the state and/or share of production owed to others under applicable lease and fiscal terms

The National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine is the leading enterprise in Ukraine’s fuel and energy complex, one of the biggest Ukrainian companies. Naftogaz of Ukraine produces one eighth of the gross domestic product of Ukraine and provides one tenth of the State budget revenues. The total number of the Company’s employees is 170 thousand people, which is about 1% of Ukraine’s employable population. NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine is a vertically integrated oil and gas company engaged in full cycle of operations in gas and oil field exploration and development, production and exploratory drilling, gas and oil transport and storage, supply of natural gas and LPG to consumers. Over 97% of the oil and gas in Ukraine is produced by the enterprises of the Company. > >

Natural gas can be measured in a number of different ways. As a gas, it can be measured by the volume it takes up at normal temperatures and pressures, commonly expressed in cubic feet. Other commonly used measures for natural gas are thousands of cubic feet (Mcf), millions of cubic feet (MMcf), or trillions of cubic feet (Tcf), as well as in billion cubic meters (bcm). 1 bcm of natural gas is equal to 36 trillion British Thermal Units, to 36 million mmbtu, is equal to 35.3 billion cubic feet, is equal to 17.23 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, is equal to 96.7 million standard cubic feet per day, is equal to 0.9 million tons of oil equivalent. While measuring by volume is useful, natural gas can also be measured as a source of energy. Like other forms of energy, natural gas is commonly measured and expressed in British thermal units (Btu). One Btu is the amount of natural gas that will produce enough energy to heat one pound of water by one degree at normal pressure. To give an idea, one cubic foot of natural gas contains about 1,027 Btus.

A reddish-brown gas that is a strong oxidizing agent, produced by combustion (as of fossil fuels). The reactive oxides of nitrogen in the atmosphere are largely NO and NO2, known together as NOx. During the day, there exists a rapid interconversion of NO and NO2.