LNG

Slovakia, the land-locked European Union member most dependent on Russian natural gas, has signed a liquefied natural gas supply deal with US major ExxonMobil Corp, and will receive the volumes via import facilities in Italy and Croatia.

The LNG supply agreement has been signed with the main Slovakian energy company, Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP).

“A contract with a strategic partner like ExxonMobil opens new opportunities in access to natural gas and LNG,” said SPP in a statement without mentioning volumes nor prices

SPP also explained that gas transportation arrangements to the land-locked central European country had been secured from LNG terminals in Italy and Croatia.

Slovakia uses around 5 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum and has mostly received Russian pipeline supplies from Gazprom that had to transit through Ukraine.

The EU nation is one of the countries most affected among the 27-member EU bloc as it had also previously relied on Russia for more than 85 percent of its gas.

Analysts noted that two-thirds of Slovakia’s oil has also come from Russia and meant the Slovakians had been opposed to more packages of sanctions cutting Russian supplies.

Polish pipeline

Earlier in September Slovakia was also able to have a guarantee of pipeline natural gas via Poland.

LNG importer Poland inaugurated a new natural gas pipeline interconnector between Poland and Slovakia as part of EU funding to help create a Polish gas hub supplying central and northeast EU countries.

The latest pipeline connects the gas networks of the two countries and will ensure supply delivery to comply with the EU strategy of diversifying routes.

The completion of the pipeline is a small part of an EU plan to create a North-South gas infrastructure corridor between the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.

The Poland-Slovakia pipeline with a total length of 165 kilometres (103 miles) was an EU Project of Common and received more than €100 million ($99.6M) of EU funding through the Connecting Europe Facility and which represented around 40 percent of the project’s costs.

The EU gas network had previously supported flows between the Russian Federation and Western Europe before the Ukraine invasion in mid-February 2022. 

LNG importer Poland has seen the inauguration of a new natural gas pipeline interconnector between Poland and Slovakia as European Union funding is helping to create a Polish gas hub supplying central and northeast EU countries.

Spanish LNG terminal owner and network operator Enagás said the keel-laying had taken place of the first liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel to be built in a Spanish shipyard.

The construction is taking place at the Armon Shipyard in the northwest Spanish port of Gijón. The yard was founded in 1963 and is now one of the leading private shipbuilders in the European Union.

“Once operational, the ship will use the Enagás LNG terminal in the Port of Barcelona for the loading and subsequent supply of LNG to ships that berth in the port or make stops to refuel before continuing their route,” explained Enagás

The formal keel-laying ceremony took place at the yard, attended by executives involved in the project, including the Enagás subsidiary Scale Gas and Knutsen OAS Shipping, the Norwegian fleet operator and owner of the bunkering newbuild.

The ship will have an LNG storage capacity of 5,000 cubic metres, be 92.75 metres in length with a beam of 16.90 metres and draught of 4.25 metres.

The vessel will itself be powered by LNG fuel and will comply with all safety measures, as established by the different regulations.

The project is also being supported by the Port of Barcelona, which is keen to be part of the Mediterranean LNG fuel hub for shipping.

“The bunkering initiative is framed within the European Union's funding programme for transport, Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which has approved €9 million ($10.7M) for its implementation,” said Enagás.

While Knutsen will own the vessel and Enagás will host the ship at the Barcelona terminal, the supply of the LNG for bunkering will be guaranteed by Shell Spain.

“Shell plans to double its existing LNG bunkering infrastructure on key international trade routes by the mid-2020s and this vessel will play an important role in that journey,” explained Enagás.

Enagás noted that Shell completed the first LNG ship-to-ship bunkering in Barcelona in 2019 and said it was looking forward to working with the partners on this project.

“In addition to promoting more sustainable maritime transport and improving air quality in the city of Barcelona, this project will be a further step to consolidate Spain and the Port of Barcelona as European LNG bunkering locations,” stated Enagás.

Venice LNG, a company owned by Italian industrial groups Decal SpA, said it had obtained an authorization decree for the construction and operation of a small-scale LNG storage terminal in the industrial area of ​​Porto Marghera.

The permit has come from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development in agreement with the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport.

The main infrastructure will consist of a 32,000 cubic metres capacity small-scale LNG import terminal able to receive feeder ships of up to 30,000 cubic metres capacity.

Facilities will be located in an area owned by Decal, alongside the existing oil storage site along the South Industrial Canal and on restored land formerly used for a coal plant.

Venice LNG's construction phase is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021, while operations are scheduled for start-up by around mid-2024.

“This step forward in the fuel infrastructure for road and marine transport is made possible thanks to a private investment of over €100 million ($120M) by Decal Spa Group through its subsidiary Venice LNG,” said the company.

“The project is promoted and supported by the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority and co-financed by the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facility initiative for a total of €18.5M ($22.3M),” it added.

LNG will arrive at the Venice storage terminal by small and medium-sized LNG carriers and will be distributed on tank trucks, ISO-tanks and barges.

“Thanks to LNG, pollutants in the atmosphere and in the waters of the Venice lagoon will be drastically reduced,” stated the company.

The authorization incorporates the requirements by all the authorities involved in the procedure, including the Veneto Region, and which must be fulfilled by Venice LNG before and during the construction and operation of the coastal storage facility.

Among the requirements, there will be mitigation of dust and noise emissions during the construction phase, along with an Environmental Monitoring Plan and the implementation of procedures to limit waste production.

“We are pleased to have reached the authorization decree, since it confirms the value of our project ,” said Gian Luigi Triboldi, President and Chief Executive of Venice LNG.

“Our project went through a long technical-administrative path, involving many authorities and the local community too. Now, we are ready to give our contribution to promote the use of LNG, which plays a key role in the energy transition process,” explained the CEO.

In addition to the storage tank, the Venice project also includes a jetty and a system to allow the loading of barges and the installation of a boil-off gas management system.

About three-quarters of the volumes will be aimed at the road transport market and the balance will be sold to the ship bunkering sector.

The largest LNG facility in the region is Adriatic LNG, which imports cargoes from Qatar to be fed into the Italian natural gas transmission system.

The EU is promoting small-scale LNG distribution and more use of the fuel in trucking as part of its clean energy policy.

With the implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s 0.5 percent global sulphur cap in 2020, LNG is being put forward as the most economic and viable alternative fuel for ship owners. 

Cyprus has held a foundation stone-laying ceremony at the site of the Mediterranean Island’s first LNG import terminal being built at Vasilikos port near Limassol by a Chinese company and partly financed by the European Union.

Hungary has opened its first filling station for liquefied natural gas at Szigetszentmiklos, south of the capital Budapest, as part of the European Union-backed clean fuel network stretching from eastern Poland to Spain.

A European joint venture to promote LNG fuel for road transport, including companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and truck-makers Scania and Iveco, said it plans to expand the network of filling stations.