LNG

May 18 (LNG) - SNAM, the Italian natural gas grid operator and LNG import terminal stakeholder, has signed a contract with shipping and project company Golar LNG to charter the carrier “Golar Arctic” as a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to be deployed in the port area of Portovesme on the Italian island of Sardinia. The Mediterranean island already has a small-scale onshore import facility owned by Avernir LNG.

   The Golar charter contract was valued at €269 million ($282.5M) and includes the vessel and the costs to Golar of converting the “Golar Arctic” into an FSRU with storage capacity for up to 140,000 cubic metres. “Further to the full conversion of the vessel, the FSRU will be sold to the SNAM Group,” said the Italian company.

Stolt-Nielsen Ltd, the Norwegian-listed shipping and storage group, said it had joined with Norwegian peer companies Golar and Hoegh in a combined investment commitment of $182 million in a project in the small-scale market called Avenir LNG.