Adriatic LNG, the operator of the largest LNG regasification terminal in Italy located offshore the eastern Veneto coastline, has formally launched its open season to allocate capacity for up to 25 years.
Adriatic LNG said the open season would culminate in a series of non-binding and binding auctions between interested operators scheduled from November 26th to the end of December 2021.
The terminal has been on line since autumn 2009 and is a private operator which enables cargo imports amounting to about 10 percent of the national gas consumption of Italy.
It has so far handled about 800 cargoes at its gravity-based structure facilities. The terminal includes two LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 125,000 cubic metres.
“As a result of suggestions brought to our attention by market operators, especially during the public consultation, Adriatic LNG offers 16 products, consisting in aggregated LNG discharge slots that can be combined together,” explained the company.
Shareholders
Adriatic LNG is co-controlled by ExxonMobil Italiana Gas and Qatar Terminal Ltd, a subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum, while Italian gas network operator SNAM has a 7.3 percent shareholding.
“Products available for the first auction session, closing on December 2, 2021, are published on the Open Season Catalogue of Products for Session 1,” said the company.
“Volumes offered vary between 1 billion cubic metres per year and to 1.6 Bcm per year of regasified natural gas, with duration varying between 10 and 24 years 9 months,” added Adriatic.
Total regasification capacity offered through the open season accounts for 153 Bcm.
The company stated that in order to increase the offer flexibility, Adriatic will give the opportunity to operators to submit, for certain types of products and within specific limits, personalized bids by requesting the reduction of duration and/or annual volumes.
“Adriatic may organize an additional second session by December 16, 2021 in case the capacity would not be entirely allocated during the first one. In this second session, available capacity would not be offered as products but as single discharge slots,” stated the company.
The eight supplying countries so far to the Adriatic facility have been Qatar, Angola, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Equatorial Guinea, Norway, Nigeria and the US.
