Category Archives: Offshore

UPDATE, WRITETHRU (with Valerian & more added): Christopher Nolans Dunkirk continued to storm the international box office this weekend, marshaling another $45.6M from 12,600 screens in 63 markets. The glowingly-reviewed war movie from Warner Bros handily navigated across the $100M overseas and $200M worldwide milestones with $131.3M and $234.1M, respectively.

H Collective

From director Wu Jing, who stars with Frank Grillo, Wolf Warriors 2 puts some bite into the current local blackout period. It hands-down beat the state-backed propaganda film, The Founding Of An Army, which came in at $24M for the three-day and $29.4M total (see more below in the local-language breakdowns).

Turning back to Dunkirk, Nolans war epic had a 36% drop from its launch session while adding majors including Germany, Mexico and Brazil. Overall Latin America figures are ahead of comps Inception and American Sniper. In the UK, the lifetimes of both Interstellar and American Sniper have been surpassed as Dunkirks No. 1 hold was just 16% off last weeks bow. The 10-day cume there is $35.4M (27.2M).

The film, which was shot almost entirely using IMAX 70MM 2D cameras, added $6.1M in the format from 307 offshore screens. The international cume is $17M for $40.1M global.

Universal

Disneys Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales too has another notch on its belt, crossing $600M internationally for $605M offshore and $776M worldwide. And, Foxs War For The Planet Of The Apes is still swinging in staggered rollout, crossing $100M overseas for $106M to date ahead of Brazil, France and Germany openings next weekend.

Next week also sees Sonys The Dark Tower erected in Russia and some smaller markets; Atomic Blonde looks to come out swinging in Australia via Universal, and Emoji makes faces in the UK, Germany and Korea, notably.

This weekends numbers for Luc Bessons Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets have been added, and breakdowns on the other movies above and more are now updated below.

NEW ATOMIC BLONDE

Universal Pictures

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS DUNKIRK

Warner Bros

New markets this frame included key Latin American plays in Mexico and Brazil. The former bowed to $2M on 1,236 screens, well ahead of Inception and on par with American Sniper. In Brazil, the launch was $1.7M on 485 to debut atop Inception (+49%), Gravity (+39%) and Interstellar (+16%) and on par with American Sniper. Dunkirk also had the highest IMAX opening weekend for a Christopher Nolan film there. In total, Latin America grossed $6.7M to track ahead of both Inception and Sniper.

Markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa saw a 28% dip with all tracking ahead of Sniper and Interstellar and on par with Inception. Germany was a new Europe play with $2.1M on 623 screens including sneaks. Despicable Me 3 continues to lead the market, followed by new local entry Ostwind 3: Aufbruch Nach Ora from Constantin. Both IMAX and 70mm were in high demand with the top grossing locations in Berlin at the Sony Center and the Zoo Palast. In total, IMAX generated an estimated $6.1M in all offshore combined, a 28% drop from opening in the holdover markets, for $17M to date in the format.

The top hold, unsurprisingly, is the UK where a 16% drop generated $10.9M on 1,294 screens. Another No. 1 performance lifts the cume to $35.4M, already surpassing the lifetime grosses of Interstellar and Sniper.

Further cumes include Korea ($16.7M), Australia ($9.8M), France ($9.8M) and Spain ($4.7M). The next markets to open are Italy on August 31, China on September 1 and Japan on September 9.

DESPICABLE ME 3

Universal/Illumination

Korea was new this frame at No. 2 behind local pic The Battleship Island. It grossed $8.1M there for the best local Illumination debut ever, and slots into the peak summer holiday period. Japan held No. 1 again and has a $17.6M cume to date. Chinas total after three sessions is $145M as it has held well against local competition during the blackout period. In Argentina ($22.3M cume), DM3 was No. 1 for the 5th session in a row while the UK was at No. 2 ($46.3M cume).

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

Fox

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

Sony

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS

EuropaCorp

The film was No. 1 in 6 markets: France, Hong Kong, French-speaking Switzerland, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia; and No. 2 in 4 including Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Estonia.

France was the key new major this session where it kicked off on Wednesday with the 2nd best launch day of the year locally (and also topped Bessons most recent helming effort, Lucy, albeit on 355 more screens). The full weekend is an estimated $12.17M which is on track to rep the biggest start of the year in the Hexagon (confirmed figures will be available on Monday). Reviews have been mixed in France. The local press here has given it 3.1 out of 5 stars with audiences scoring higher at 3.9, according to AlloCin. Ahead of the weekend, exits on the movie, which is based on a beloved French comic, were said to be very positive.

Major hubs still to take flight include the UK, Brazil, Spain, Russia, Mexico Italy, Japan, Korea and China which is going August 25. Thats starting to look like a crowded day with Cars 3 and Baby Driver also both zooming into the Middle Kingdom as the blackout lifts.

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT

Paramount

BABY DRIVER

Sony

Holdover hubs dipped 40% collectively. Upcoming key market releases include Mexico, Russia and Korea. China now has an August 25 date on what is looking to be a crowded weekend with Cars 3 and Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets also moving in then.

CARS 3

Disney

In particular this weekend, Cars 3 revved up by 10% in the Netherlands; scored the 2nd best Disney/Pixar launch day ever in Finland ($400K weekend); had the 2nd best animation opening this year in Belgium ($500K weekend); and was tops in the Philippines with $800K.

As of today, the lead markets are Mexico ($15.5M), Russia ($10.5M), Australia ($9.9M), Japan ($9.8M) and Brazil ($9.7M). France is on deck this week.

THE MUMMY Unwrapping in Japan, Universals The Mummy unearthed $3.5M there to land No. 2 and score bigger than recent Tom Cruise titles Edge Of Tomorrow, Oblivion and Jack Reacher. The full weekend was $3.9M in 47 markets. Play is essentially done in most hubs with the Top 5 breaking down thusly: China ($91.5M), Korea ($27.6M), Russia ($16.9M), Brazil ($14.2M) and Mexico ($13M).

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

Disney

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE

Universal Pictures

LOCAL-LANGUAGE CHINA

H Collective

Response from critics and audiences has been higher than on the original Wolf Warrior. On Douban, the story of a commando who heads to Africa to rescue Chinese nationals is at 7.5 versus the previous films 6.8. On Mtime, its at 7.4 versus 7, per communist party-leaning Global Times which bills it as an exciting action film thats also heavily patriotic. The paper says it grossed RMB 306.7M ($45.5M) on Saturday to score the second highest single-day take ever for a domestic film and the sixth for any film at the mainland box office. Indeed, grosses rose throughout the weekend play.

CFG

KOREA

CJ

INDIA

Sony

Excerpt from:

'Dunkirk' Charts $131M Offshore; 'Wolf' Devours China; 'Despicable 3' Tops $819M WW + 'Valerian's French Bread ... - Deadline

Its a hot-button issue on Delmarva that could soon impact locals and tourists alike.

Before taking a side on this issue, its important to understand the basics of what offshore wind even is. The definition of offshore wind power is in its very nameits the use of wind farms constructed on the oceans continental shelf (and sometimes lakes and fords) to generate electricity from wind, which is stronger over seas than it is over land.

The topic has been coming up a lot recently, and thats because theres a strong possibility that two offshore wind farms will soon be constructed off the coast of OC.

In May, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved subsidies for the two farms that would be the largest in the country to date. These farms, managed by U.S. Wind and Skipjack Offshore Energy, would include 41+ U.S. Wind turbines located at least 17 miles from the shore and 15 Skipjack turbines at least 19.5 miles from the shore.

First, some of the benefits of offshore wind: environmentally, wind farms produce renewable energy (no fossil fuels!). That means reduced air pollution and reduced greenhouse gases, and the prevention of hundreds of thousands of carbon dioxide emissions entering the atmosphere.

There are also economic benefits: its estimated that these two wind farms would create 5,000 local jobs and about $74 million in state tax revenue. In a statement, Maryland Public Service Commissioner Michael T. Richard highlighted the farms potential to make positive impacts on the environment and the economy:

However, while many Ocean City locals and politicians have supported the proposals for offshore wind, there have been others who arent as thrilled about the project.

According to U.S. Wind project manager Paul Rich, when the project was initially discussed seven years ago between the developers, the federal government and the Town of Ocean City, the Town was most concerned with having the turbines at least 10 miles away from the shore. More recently, at the Towns request, U.S. Wind agreed to move their turbines as far back as we possibly can, 17 miles from the shore.

A few weeks ago, one of the projects biggest opposers, Congressman Andy Harris, got an amendment passed that could end up terminating the projects altogether. The amendment prohibits the use of federal fundingto conduct reviews of site assessments or construction and operation plans for turbines less than 24 miles from the shore.

This amendment was adopted mostly due to concerns regarding the turbines being a potential eyesore. Because a sizable portion of the Towns revenue comes from tourism, and its unknown whether a view of the turbines could impact the economic sectors of tourism and real estate, Harris and other officials are concerned that the turbines would result in losing such revenue.

And while they would bring in state revenue, its estimated that the projects would cost about $2 billion in total, and that the typical utility customer would see a 1.4% increase in their bill, an extra $1.40 per month on average.

In light of the recent amendment passed, the projects are currently on hold, likely unless or until the amendment is reversed.

Well, maybe. Right now, most offshore wind farms are located off the coasts of European countries, and there are only two in the United States (a floating wind turbine in Maine and a commercial farm in Rhode Island).

We know little about how these wind farms will impact tourism in the U.S., but there have been recent studies conducted that might give us an idea. For example, one study conducted by economists at North Carolina State University concluded that nearshore wind farms would have a negative effect on state tourismbut that mostly applies when the turbines are eight miles away from the shore or closer. In a working paper on the study, NCSUsCenter for Environmental and Resource Economic Policy director Laura Taylor said:

In one Danish beach town, resort owners are actually turning the nearby wind farm into a tourist attraction. Anne Marie Larsen, who owns a resort in Nysted, Denmark that offers offshore wind safaris, told Offshore Wind.biz:

Harbor master Sven Erik Hauberg echoed Larsens positive outlook on the wind farms.

Again, whether the wind farms would have a positive, negative or nonexistent impact on Ocean City tourism cant be totally known unless theyre built. Right now, we can only look at studies that have been conducted and the impact of wind farms on other countries, and make an educated guess. Here is a good place to start researching.

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Ocean City and offshore wind - Ocean City Today

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How much of the world's wealth is hidden offshore? - BBC News BBC News The chunk of global wealth illegally stashed in tax havens is a big feature of the modern economy. and more »

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How much of the world's wealth is hidden offshore? - BBC News - BBC News

Petronas' subsidiary PC Vietnam (PCVL) has agreed to transfer Blocks 01 and 02 in the Cuu Long basin in offshore Vietnam to the host authority once the production sharing contract (PSC) expires.

The PSC is scheduled to expire after 26 years on 9 September this year.

Once the PSC ends, PCVL will terminate all its operations as stated in the contract terms.

Petronas president and group CEO Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said: "We have come a long way since our entry into Vietnam in 1991, which was an important first step at the beginning of our globalisation journey.

"The parent company will continue to operate the upstream production activities for Blocks 102 and 106."

"As a pioneer investor in the oil and gas industry of Vietnam, we are proud to have been given the opportunity by the host government to play a significant role in the development of the countrys oil and gas and petrochemical industries."

The parent company will continue to operate the upstream production activities for Blocks 102 and 106, which are both in North Vietnam's Song Hong Basin. These two blocks are operated by Petronas Carigali Overseas (PCOSB).

Petronas also plans to pursue additional opportunities in its downstream businesses in Vietnam, particularly in the lubricants and petrochemical sectors.

Established in 1974, Malaysias Petronas has operations in more than 50 countries worldwide in various aspects ranging from exploration to marketing.

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Petronas to exit two offshore blocks in Vietnam - Offshore Technology

MELBOURNE, Australia--Oil-and-gas explorer Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. (KAR.AU) has struck a deal to tie-up with an energy company controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman to consider buying assets in selected areas off Brazil.

In a statement Monday, the Australian company said it had entered agreements with German oil-and-gas company Dea to evaluate jointly bidding for assets.

As part of the arrangement, Karoon said it had granted Dea an exclusive option to buy up to 50% in five exploration blocks in the Santos Basin, off the coast of the state of Sao Paulo.

Having such a "high quality, well-capitalized partner" would significantly assist Karoon in its ambitions to buy oil production in Brazil, Karoon Managing Director Robert Hosking said.

Commercial terms for any acquisitions would be agreed and finalized at the appropriate time, Karoon said. A sale of interests in its exploration acreage, including in the Echidna and Kangaroo discoveries, remains subject to Dea carrying out due diligence and the agreement of terms, it added.

Mr. Fridman's L1 Energy, formed to invest heavily in energy assets around the world, bought Dea from German utility RWE AG (RWE.XE) in 2015.

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"DEA has excellent operational capabilities with significant production and earnings, along with ambitious growth strategy, making them a very good strategic fit for Karoon" Mr. Hosking said.

Karoon entered Brazil in 2008 with the acquisition of five exploration blocks.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2017 20:34 ET (00:34 GMT)

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Karoon Partners with Dea to Consider Acquisitions Offshore Brazil ... - Fox Business

Oil & Gas UK has revealed an improvement in performance in the latest annual health and safety data report into the UK offshore industry.

The Health & Safety Report 2017 provides significant trends and issues of the sectors performance on the UK Continental Shelf during the last year.

The report highlighted the collectively lowest level for dangerous incidents such as oil and gas releases, dropped objects, fires, and explosions.

The sector reported 113 injuries in more than 50 million manhours worked offshore,which is the second lowest since the safety regulations came into force in the mid-1990s.

It also mentioned that six operators witnessed no dangerous occurrences last year and nine operators had no reportable injuries during the same time period.

However, the report also mentioned a fatality happened during the unpacking of a container offshore.

"Process safety incidents such as oil and gas releases, fires or explosions and dropped objects are at the lowest on record."

Oil & Gas UK Health, Safety and Environment Policy director Mick Borwell said: Our report reflects the continued industry-wide effort we make to maintain focus on the safety of our people and operations.

That effort is paying back in the form of an improving overall performance.

He stated that particular scrutiny has been paid to aviation safetyfollowing two helicopter crashes, with one killing 13 people in Norway and a non-fatal incidentin the UK.

Borwell added: "Process safety incidents, which includes oil and gas releases, fires or explosions and dropped objects, are at the lowest on record.

"There has been a sustained overall downward trend in the total number of these hydrocarbon releases reported since a peak in 2004. Prevention of releases remains an absolute priority."

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Improvement in UK offshore oil and gas safety, says report - Offshore Technology

Mary Ann Bragg @MaryAnnBraggCCT

One of three companies with plans to build commercial wind farms south of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard has begun a formal analysis of their lease area.

The start of Bay State Winds site assessment process moves the company a step ahead of its competitors in the federal regulatory permitting process.The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is currently reviewing the site assessment plans of Vineyard Wind and Deepwater Wind for completeness.

Actual construction is still several years away for all three companies.

The projects planned south and southwest of the Islands could be among the first federally authorized offshore commercial wind farms in the country, adding to the five-turbine wind farm in state waters off Block Island.

Were thrilled to be part of this huge step forward for the offshore wind industry in the U.S., said Thomas Brostrom, the North America president of Dong Energy, in a statement.

Dong Energy and Eversource, the New England electric and natural gas utility, recently formed Bay State Wind and leased 187,000 acres of submerged land for wind energy development in federal waters beyond the state's three-mile limit, known as the outer continental shelf, and located between 15 and 25 miles south of Marthas Vineyard. The commercial lease allows five years for the site assessment and 25 years for operation of the wind farm.

With the June 29 federal approval of the site assessment plan, Bay State Wind has installed three moored, data-gathering unmanned buoys in the lease area to collect physical, biological and economic characteristics of the lease area for the next two to four years.Two 21-foot-long yellow buoys employ Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) remote sensor equipment to measure meteorological and environmental conditions primarily related to wind speed and direction.A smaller, round buoy that looks like a bubble in the water will record wave, current and water temperature conditions.

So far, calls from fishermen about the new buoys have largely been inquiries about the technology itself, said John Williamson, who is the companys fishery liaison officer.

I was anticipating getting calls and there have been remarkably few, Williamson said.

Photographs and basic sea conditions information available on a public website have been the biggest attraction, he said.

As part of the conditions attached to the plan approval, Bay State Wind must submit an annual report by Nov. 1 of each year on site assessment activities and results including an annual self-inspection report. Among the conditions of the June 29 approval, the company must list any new sensor equipment and any potential archaeological discovery, such as a shipwreck, and produce an annual report on dead or injured birds or bats for federal officials. Banded bird carcasses must be reported within 30 days.

To protect marine mammals and sea turtles, the company must prevent trash and marine debris from entering the ocean and to prevent vessel strikes of the animals. With North Atlantic right whales, the company must monitor seasonal right whale tracking systems, adhere to vessel slow-down restrictions and keep away from any right whales. If a company vessel that is underway encounters a right whale within 328 feet the vessels engine must be shifted into neutral until the whale passes. If a vessel is stationary in the same circumstances, the engine must be shifted to neutral as well.

Company vessels are to avoid and similarly attempt to protect other nearby whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea turtles, according to the June 29 approval.

The company must also comply with all federal reporting requirements for injured or dead protected species.Bay State Wind has also submitted an oil spill response plan to federal officials.

Vineyard Wind spokesman John Lamontagnesaid the company expects to receive approval in the fall for its site assessment plan.

"Meanwhile we have been analyzing publicly available data from a nearby wind measurement station," Lamontagne said. "Based on this analysis, we are confident that our site has an excellent wind resource."

A representative of Deepwater Wind did not return a request for comment sent on Saturday.

In addition to assessing the potential of their offshore leased areas, the three companies are expected to bid by December on long-term contracts.

On June 29, the states three electric distribution companies issued a request for bids for a total of 400 megawatts of offshore wind energy generation, and potentially up to 800 megawatts, based on an energy bill signed in 2016 by Gov. Charlie Baker. The June 29 solicitation is the first in Massachusetts of what is expected to be a total of approximately 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind energy generation by June 30, 2027.

The three electric distribution companies seeking the bids are Eversource, National Grid and Unitil.

Eversource, in particular, has a dual role in the solicitation processes,by submitting a bid, as Bay State Wind, and reviewing the bids, as a utility company.

In tendering a bid, it is an unregulated affiliate of Eversource that has partnered with Dong Energy to become Bay State Wind, Eversource spokeswoman Caroline Pretyman said. In that role,Eversource will develop the onshore transmission system to complement Dong Energy's offshore generation and transmission expertise.

As a utility company, Eversource will work with the state Department of Energy Resources, other utilities and a third-party independent evaluator to review the bids on behalf of customers, Pretyman said.

"The request for proposals includes a standard of conduct, in addition to our own standards, that serve to ensure fairness involving transactions between and among affiliates," she said.

The state oversees the bidding process and any future contracts are subject to review and approval by the state Department of Public Utilities, with a full public process, Pretyman said.

Follow Mary Ann Bragg on Twitter: @maryannbraggCCT.

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State offers new momentum for offshore wind power - Cape Cod Times (subscription)

Folks along the Lower Cape Fear have understandably been focused on GenX, but there are other environmental issues out there. Gov. Roy Cooper has made a smart choice on one of them.

In a speech last week at Fort Macon State Park, Cooper announced that North Carolina will oppose oil and gas drilling off our coast.

President Obama had put the Atlantic coast off-limits for oil prospecting, but President Trump reversed that order on April 28. Former Gov. Pat McCrory and Republicans in the legislature had been cheerleaders for offshore drilling, apparently hoping that big oil and gas royalties could substitute for taxes.

Such benefits come at a cost, though, and Cooper and Kure Beach Mayor Emilie Swearingen are right: The price for offshore oil in our backyard is too high.

We know seismic testing for underwater oil and gas deposits can harm marine mammals and reduce commercial fish catches.

Beyond that is the probability of a major spill. When something can go wrong, the chances are, sooner or later, it usually does. And oil rigs leaking, burning or exploding are not rare incidents.

In the Gulf of Mexico, tar balls are still washing ashore after the Deepwater Horizon explosion of 2010. The oil spill killed roots on coastal trees, speeding the erosion of barrier islands. Oyster production has been halved.

North Carolina's tourist industry generates more than $20 billion in revenue annually and $2.1 billion in state and local taxes. Much of that tourism is based on the Tar Heel State's pretty white beaches. When those beaches are covered in black slime and bird carcasses, those tourists will go somewhere else.

Commercial landings of shellfish and finfish in North Carolina were valued at $94 million dockside in 2016. One bad spill could erase much of that industry.

One question has to be, whats the rush? At the moment, gas prices are declining nationally, below $2 per gallon retail in many places. Adjusted for inflation, thats about as cheap as gasoline has ever been.

Bloomberg News reports that thousands of wells in the United States are sitting idle. Basically, with the wholesale price of oil below $50 per barrel, it's not worth it for oil companies to retrieve it.

If thats the case, why do risky drilling offshore?

Things might change in the future, and we might need that oil eventually but not now.

Star-News (Wilmington)

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Editorial: Why there's no need for offshore drilling right now - Burlington Times News

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has made it harder for South Africans to send money abroad, says Jill Wilmans, the managing director of Currencies Direct South Africa, which specialises in foreign exchange payments.

Previously, if you wanted to invest more than R1million but less than R10m offshore in a calendar year, Sars required a bank statement not older than three months, a statement of your assets and liabilities, and proof of the source of capital.

Now if you applying for tax clearance for a foreign investment allowance, Sars requires you to disclose information going back three years. This includes disclosing all your investments, loan accounts and distributions from local and foreign companies and trusts.

Wilmans says the change is causing major headaches. Prior to the introduction of these changes, it used to take us a few days to get tax clearance for our clients and have the funds ready to transfer into a foreign currency account. Now its taking three to four weeks.

Wilmans says it is tempting to assume that Sars is trying to make life difficult for well-off South Africans whom it believes are seeking shelter from political developments in this country.

She says that two years ago about half the applications processed by her company were from offshore clients wanting to convert euros, dollars or pounds into rands. These were foreigners keen to set up home, even for a few months of the year, in South Africa. Currently, its about 70% outgoing and 30% incoming.

Wilmans says political uncertainty has also motivated many citizens of the United States and European Union to diversify their asset base.

Were living in a turbulent global village, and we often forget it was the post-1994 government that gave us the ability to manage some of that turbulence by allowing individuals to set up offshore accounts. Having to disclose three years of information is cumbersome, but it will make it much more difficult for individuals to send money offshore that has escaped the tax net.

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Sars red tape makes it harder to invest offshore - Independent Online

* At least four offshore LNG plants in the works

* Plants will take offshore gas directly overseas

* Projects could be cheaper than large-scale onshore plants

By Edward McAllister

DAKAR, July 27 (Reuters) - Cameroon plans to begin exporting liquefied natural gas later this year using a newly designed offshore plant that analysts say could slash production costs and unlock African reserves not previously considered economically viable.

West and Central Africa's Gulf of Guinea has seen a wave of new oil and gas exploration, particularly since Tullow Oil discovered Ghana's huge Jubilee gas field in 2007. But the cost of pipelines and onshore liquefaction facilities means that relatively few gas finds have been developed.

However, a new technology has the potential to boost West and Central Africa's efforts to exploit its vast gas resources by allowing smaller plants to ship gas from less accessible fields.

A specialised vessel owned by Golar LNG will dock offshore Cameroon's Atlantic coast in the coming weeks for testing. It will liquefy natural gas produced in nearby offshore fields for shipment directly overseas. Russia's Gazprom has the rights to ship the gas to customers in Asia, Europe or South America.

"Deploying offshore liquefaction facilities bypasses some of the difficulties associated with building infrastructure onshore. Sometimes, offshore is simply easier," said Jean-Baptiste Bouzard, sub-Saharan analyst at Wood Mackenzie.

In sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Angola already export over 20 million tonnes each year (mtpa) of LNG, mainly to Europe and Asia. But those kinds of onshore facilities, which require large refrigeration units and storage tanks that take up acres of land, can be prohibitively expensive.

The dominance of cheap diesel and fuel oil in the region's domestic power markets also hindered the exploitation of reserves.

"Demand in the region is, at present, insufficient to justify the development of such big gas reserves for domestic consumption only," CITAC analysts said in a report this month on LNG in sub-Saharan Africa. "Consequently, most projects...are liquefaction units for exports."

The new offshore vessels will do the same job as the onshore facilities, albeit in smaller volumes, for a fraction of the cost in infrastructure.

Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo Republic are already developing four such offshore plants. Together they are expected to cost around $6 billion, a price tag comparable to that of some single onshore facilities.

In Senegal, BP is also considering using similar technology to export newly-discovered gas in deep waters there.

The exact volumes produced by the new offshore projects is not yet clear. Cameroon's project, a joint venture between Golar, Perenco and Cameroon's state-run SNH, will produce 1.2 mtpa.

Together, the four planned offshore projects are unlikely to produce much more than 7 mtpa of LNG.

But small scale has its advantages. In a market already glutted by a 7.5 percent growth in supply last year, having the cheapest gas will help win customers. A smaller-scale plant could help keep costs down.

Only one other plant like the one in Cameroon currently exists. It went online in Malaysia in March, and the market will be closely watching progress in Cameroon. (Additional reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic in London; Editing by Joe Bavier and Susan Thomas)

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African LNG exports to get boost from offshore projects - Reuters - Reuters