LNG

Nimofast Brasil SA has signed a partnership agreement with the Norwegian company Kanfer Shipping AS to offer small and medium-scale LNG shipping, small-scale floating storage units (FSUs) and LNG bunkering to its customers in Brazil from 2025.

“The LNG vessels and LNG bunker ships will be loaded via the permanently based FSU at the Nimofast LNG import and distribution terminal in the state of Paraná,” said Kanfer.

Kanfer is one of the leading companies for small-scale LNG and gas solutions based in Norway.

Kanfer explained that its aim was to help stranded customers in emerging markets to efficiently access LNG through transport and storage and to provide clean and cost-effective bunkering infrastructure.

“We are very much looking forward to cooperating with Nimofast by using our patented technologies to improve both the availability and accessibility of LNG for the customers in Brazil as well as being cost efficient,” said Stig Hagen, Chief Executive of Kanfer.

LNG gap

“Kanfer’s small-scale solutions for sea transport, storage and bunkering create a virtual LNG pipeline, solving a critical gap in the LNG supply chain,” stated Hagen.

Nimofast is an LNG project development company with its roots in trading and is fully licensed and authorized by the Brazilian regulator, the National Agency of Petroleum (ANP), to import LNG to Brazil.

Nimofast recently announced that it secured enough LNG offtake volumes to justify a final investment decision via supply contracts with GNLink, a company controlled by asset manager Lorinvest, and with energy trading company Migratio Gas.

The terminal is expected to be operational in 2025.

“We noticed that many clients in Brazil, either require relatively small volumes of LNG, or do not have suitable port infrastructure to build or to justify their own LNG import terminal,” explained Nimofast President Ramon Reis.

Port drafts

“Via the partnership with Kanfer Shipping, we are able to offer and deliver LNG to any customer along the Brazilian coastline regardless of the requested volumes or port draft limitations,” he added.

“We also see LNG bunkering as a growth market to meet environmental and economic objectives in shipping,” stated Reis.

The third party in the venture is Maius GmbH, a Swiss structuring and project finance firm which is advising Nimofast on the structuring of its debt and equity, strategic partnerships and risk mitigation of the project.

“We congratulate Nimofast and the partners on achieving another important milestone that will contribute to the energy transition and security in Brazil,” said Stefan M. Rohmer, the Maius CEO.

“We are proud to be part of the team and to be the lead adviser for this privately-funded, market-leading project,” declared Rohmer.

Global LNG trade increased by 6 percent to 385 million tonnes with economic activity picking up in several countries while supply constraints and rising demand caused significant volatility in prices as nations scrambled to secure LNG cargoes to meet gas demand for the past winter season.

Trading in the LNG sector was one of the issues covered by the 2022 edition of the “Global Gas Report” published by the International Gas Union on the occasion of the 28th IGU World Gas Conference in South Korea.

“Overall, LNG exports grew in 2021, with the US leading the way through its year-on-year increase of 23 million tonnes,” said the IGU in a report covering the past two years.

“This provided security of supply to some extent, especially in a tight market. US LNG recovered well from the cancellation of cargoes and reduced usage of liquefaction plants the previous year,” said the IGU report.

About 48 percent of US export volumes were delivered to Asia, driven by increasing demand in South Korea and China.

The IGU noted that Japan was the third-largest importer of US LNG in 2021, with the three countries accounting for over 36 percent of all US export volumes last year.

Brazil surge

LNG exports to Europe had also increased in March and April 2021, a year before the Ukraine events and after a cold winter had depleted the region’s natural gas in storage.

“Volumes decreased during the following months but increased again in the fourth quarter and peaked in December 2021, as Europe’s natural gas inventories remained low,” the IGU recalled.

US LNG exports to Brazil increased from 2.3MT in 2020 to 7MT in 2021 as an intense drought in the country limited hydro-electric power generation and led to more consumption of natural gas for power.

“LNG exports from Australia, Qatar and Russia remained stable from 2020 to 2021, while there was a decrease in volumes from Nigeria and from Trinidad & Tobago over the same period,” said the IGU report.

Pipeline exports

Pipeline natural gas export volumes also increased last year by 6 percent, mirroring the rebound of global economic activity.

“The US saw an 8 percent rise in pipeline exports to Mexico, while domestic consumption in the country remained low,” the report noted.

In the Asia Pacific region, net gas imports grew by 17 percent, with one-fifth of that incremental volume attributed to increased pipeline imports.

“This was particularly prominent in China, as import volumes rose due to weather-related factors and higher economic activity,” said the IGU.

“Russia’s pipeline export volumes increased by about 4 percent from 2020, with incremental volumes flowing to Germany, Italy and Turkey,” it added.

Europe’s pipeline imports rose by 0.5 percent in 2021, supported by an annual increase in volumes flowing from Algeria.

Russia’s pipeline deliveries to Europe declined further towards the end of the year, resulting in a tighter market and higher gas prices.

The IGU said that natural gas production levels in the Middle East increased, with Iran’s pipeline exports to Turkey and Israel’s pipeline exports to Egypt growing significantly.

Excelerate Energy of the US, the leading global floating storage and regasification unit developer, has reached an agreement to enable more liquefied natural gas imports to Brazil as the nation continues to cope with much reduced hydro-electric power because of drought.