LNG

Dec 12 (LNGJ) - Star Energy, the company listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market, is hoping to give LNG importer Croatia more access to additional sources of energy. The company said that a drilling rig had been mobilised to a recently constructed well pad on its Ernestinovo Licence in Eastern Croatia, three months after the acquisition of its Croatian Geothermal interests. “The rig will re-enter the Ernestinovo-3 well to test the geothermal potential,” said the company.

   “Crosco is conducting the well re-entry programme. They are a highly experienced Croatian-based international drilling company and have conducted the successful re-entry of a number of wells in-country,” it added. The company said the operation was likely to continue for about one month. “We are excited to begin the well re-entry on Ernestinovo-3. The speed with which we have constructed a well pad and commenced this operation demonstrates both the expertise of our local partners and the efficiency of the Croatian regulators,” stated Star Energy Chief Executive Chris Hopkinson.

Seatrium Group of Singapore, formerly called Sembcorp Marine Ltd and renamed as Seatrium following its merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine, has made the successful delivery and hand-over of the Greek “FSRU Alexandroupoli” to be deployed offshore northeast Greece as part of a Balkans LNG supply hub.

Svitzer, a subsidiary of the Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk and a leading provider of towage, has signed a 15-year agreement to service Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System LNG terminal offshore the northeast coast of Greece.

A Greek joint venture has held a ceremony for the construction of a gas-fired power plant that will help underpin the LNG floating storage and regasification (FSRU) project at the eastern Greek port of Alexandroupolis.

The Alexandroupolis Power Plant is being built by a consortium of Greece’s three major energy groups, PPC, DEPA (the Public Gas Corporation of Greece ) and Damco Energy, a unit of the Copelouzos Group.

The launch ceremony for the power project was attended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as well as others involved in supporting the Greek and Balkans region project, including representatives of the Bulgarian and US governments.

The power plant will be directly connected to the FSRU import project led by Greek company Gastrade and with the vessel being provided by one of the world’s leading LNG carrier companies GasLog.

“Alexandroupolis is turning into an energy junction of electricity and natural gas networks, with the potential of supplying the domestic market and neighbouring countries in Southeast Europe,” said a statement.

The FSRU will consist of a permanently moored FSRU and a pipeline system of 28 kilometres connecting the floating unit to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGTS).

Aegean location

The vessel will be stationed in the north-eastern part of the Aegean Sea and about 17.6km from the town of Alexandroupolis.

The GasLog vessel will have a storage capacity of 153,500 cubic metres and a nominal gas send-out rate of 625,000 cubic metres per hour.

The new power plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2025. It will be a combined-cycle facility with installed capacity of 840 megawatts, which is approximately the net capacity of three coal-fired plants currently being decommissioned.

“We are here to welcome a project that is changing the energy landscape and Greece is now shielded,” said Christos Copelouzos, Chief Executive of the Copelouzos Group.

“At the same time, a new energy pillar is being created for Southeast Europe, as our country will be able to export electricity to the neighbouring Balkan states, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and even Serbia,” he added.

“As a Group, we chose the location of the plant here in Alexandroupolis. After all, for years we have been paying special attention to the wider Evros region, fully acknowledging its important geostrategic position,” explained the CEO.

“We are creating infrastructure, which, together with other projects under implementation in the region, such as the FSRU Alexandroupolis, will generate opportunities for the development of the local economy and many new and permanent jobs,” he stated.

“With confidence in Greece and its people, we at Copelouzos Group will continue to develop projects of ‘national identity’. These include investments that are being thoroughly prepared, such as the electrical interconnection between Greece and Egypt and offshore wind farms,” he concluded.

Leading European Union LNG import terminal owner and grid operator, Enagás of Spain, has signed a firm agreement in Albania to help the Balkan nation’s natural gas company AlbGaz develop its markets and infrastructure.

Leading European Union LNG import terminal owner and grid operator Enagás has signed an agreement in Madrid with Albania on helping the Balkan nation’s natural gas company AlbGaz develop its markets and infrastructure.

The Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama and Spain's Energy Minister Teresa Ribera attended the signing of the Enagás-AlbGaz agreement along with the Albanian Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Belinda Balluku.

The Balkan region is one of the most vulnerable in terms of the lack of energy diversity and security and the signing of this accord is seen as another step towards helping Albania develop its economy.

AlbGaz is the Albanian Transmission System Operator (TSO) and is working to modernize the gas system in the country.

The actual gas agreement was signed by the Chief Executive of Enagás Arturo Gonzalo and his AlbGaz counterpart Arber Avrami to collaborate in the development of gas infrastructure in Albania.

“This agreement lays the foundations to contribute to the security of energy supply, not only in Albania but also at the regional level, and to the decarbonization of its economy, displacing polluting fuels and also promoting renewable gases,” said a statement.

Partnership

Arturo Gonzalo pointed out that the agreement opened up relevant avenues for future collaboration between the Spanish and Albanian gas industries.

“Cooperation between European TSOs is key in the current context. The accord is aligned with the purpose of Enagás to contribute to security of supply and decarbonisation in Europe,” added Gonzalo.

Enagás said it was already cooperating with Albania through is 16 percent shareholding of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) which connects Turkey with Italy through Greece and Albania.

AlbGaz CEO Avrami said his nation viewed Enagás as valuable partner.

“There are possibilities for cooperation in a series of projects that include the Vlora LNG import terminal in Albania and the Dumrea Underground Storage as well as small-scale LNG distribution,” added Avrami.

“ I am convinced that this cooperation will be an additional guarantee for the realization of these ambitious projects and the vision that foresees the transformation of Albania into a regional energy centre., he stated.

A proposal was made in July 2021 for Excelerate Energy of the US and US major ExxonMobil to start a feasibility study on developing an LNG import terminal at the Port of Vlora in southern Albania.

Under that accord, Excelerate would conduct a study to explore the potential of an integrated LNG-for-power solution for the Albanians.

This would include developing an LNG import terminal, converting or expanding the existing Vlora thermal power plant and establishing small-scale LNG distribution in Albania and for the surrounding Balkans region.

Two Balkan natural gas and utility companies, Albania's Albgaz and Bulgaria's Overgas, have signed an accord to cooperate on projects to diversify supplies in the region at an event attended by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo attended as the Chairman of US company Linden Energy’s Advisory Board. Linden has agreed to take a 50 percent stake in Overgas subject to regulatory approval.

The accord outlined the parameters of the planned Albanian-Bulgarian cooperation to secure natural gas from non-Russian sources via commercially viable projects driven by the private sector.

“We are excited to begin working with a fellow regional gas company such as Albgaz. The signing of this agreement is a first step in regional cooperation to diversify gas supply to the Balkans,” said Svetoslav Ivanov, Executive Director of Overgas.

The agreement was signed in the Albanian capital Tirana and representatives of each company attended along with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Linden Energy was represented by Stephen Payne, the company's President and company founder and by former Secretary of State Pompeo.

The US company in July 2021 signed an agreement to acquire 50 percent of Overgas, the independent Bulgarian gas trading company and Bulgaria’s largest privately-owned gas firm.

Linden Energy is focusing on energy project development and was founded in 2013 by Payne.

LNG record

“Payne has a history in the international energy sector as he has negotiated over 27 million tonnes per annum of LNG sales, was instrumental in the development of several large LNG export projects in the US and several major international pipelines,” said the statement on the signing event.

It noted that Linden has other projects under consideration in Eastern Europe and South Asia.

Linden Energy is additionally a 10 percent capacity holder in the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline.

“As one of the only US companies involved in the Balkans gas trade, Linden Energy is excited to take this first step as part of Overgas in partnership with Albgaz,” stated Payne.

Secretary Pompeo said that at a time of great uncertainty in the European energy market he was proud to be a part of a team that is addressing this issue head-on.

“The Balkan region is one of the most vulnerable in terms of the lack of energy diversity and the signing of this accord is a strong step in the right direction,” Pompeo declared.

GasLog LNG Ltd., the operator with a fleet 35 LNG carriers under its control and with four others under construction, reported a rise in revenues but a decline in first-quarter profits to $71.05 million compared with $84.24M in the prior-year quarter.

“The decrease in profit is mainly attributable to the decrease in profit from operations, which is mainly affected by an impairment loss,” said the company.

GasLog posted an increase in quarterly revenues to $213.72M compared with 205.32M in the same three months of 2021.

“The increase in revenues is mainly attributable to an increase from the deliveries of wholly-owned GasLog vessels. This increase was partially offset by decreased revenues mainly from GasLog Partners’ vessels operating in the spot market in the first quarter of 2022,” explained the Piraeus, Greece-based company.

Among the GasLog fleet of 39 LNG ships, 19 are owned by GasLog, five have been sold and leased back by GasLog under long-term and of the remaining 15 LNG carriers, 14 are owned by the company’s subsidiary, GasLog Partners, and one has been sold and leased back by GasLog Partners.

GasLog completed a merger in June 2021 with BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure (GEPIF) fund and de-listed its common shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

Ownership structure

GasLog’s ownership structure has three main shareholders in both companies, parent GasLog Ltd and subsidiary GasLog Partners LP.

They are the Greek Livanos family with 55 percent, the Monaco-based Onassis Foundation with 12 percent and BlackRock’s GEPIF, holder of 45 percent of the equity.

As of the end of March 2022, GasLog had $3.5 billion of debts outstanding under its credit facilities and bond agreements, of which $234.9M is repayable within one year.

Among first-quarter highlights, the Greek floating LNG terminal project including GasLog and led by the company Gastrade SA to deploy two Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs) off Greece, was making progress after a final investment decision.

Alexandroupolis

“GasLog, through its subsidiary GAS-fifteen Ltd., issued a final notice to proceed to Keppel Shipyard (Singapore) to convert the ‘GasLog Chelsea’, a 153,600 cubic metres tri-fuel, diesel-electric propulsion (TFDE) LNG carrier built in 2010, into an FSRU in connection with the FID taken by Gastrade for the construction of a regasification terminal in Alexandroupolis,” explained the company.

GasLog has entered into an agreement for the sale of the “GasLog Chelsea” to Gastrade for $265.1M, payable in instalments following its conversion to an FSRU expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2023.

GasLog noted that it also completed a sale and lease-back deal on the “GasLog Skagen”, a 155,000 cubic metres capacity TFDE LNG carrier built in 2013, with a wholly owned subsidiary of China Development Bank Leasing (CDBL).

This released $21.5M of incremental net liquidity to the Group. The vessel was sold and leased back under a charter with CDBL for a period of five years with no repurchase option or obligation.

“The vessel remains on its charter with Chevron Asia Pacific Shipping,” said GasLog.

Among new charter agreements in the first quarter, GasLog extended the time charter of the “GasLog Salem” with a wholly owned subsidiary of commodities firm Gunvor for an additional 12 months.

The company also signed a new one-year time charter party agreement for the “GasLog Singapore” with Singapore LNG Corp.

In another deal, subsidiary GasLog Partners LP signed a new multi-month time charter agreement for the “GasLog Sydney” with Spain-based utility Naturgy Energy.

Dec 31 (LNGJ) - The main utility company in the former Yugoslav state of Montenegro, Elektro Privreda Crne Gore (EPCG), has signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore-based LNG Alliance on LNG-for-power with prospects of a project emerging and comprising an LNG import terminal and two gas-fired power plants.

   “EPCG is working intensively on building partnerships with credible partners, whose participation would enable the implementation of planned investments,” said a statement. The MoU signatory for EPCG was Executive Director Nikola Rovčanin and LNG Alliance Chief Executive Muthu Chezhian signed for the Singaporean firm.

Greek company Gastrade, the lead developer of a joint venture floating LNG terminal offshore Greece’s northeast port of Alexandroupolis to serve the Balkans, has signed accords with two utilities in North Macedonia, a part of the former Yugoslavia until 1991 when it became an independent state.