Italian natural gas network firm and equity fund acquire control of LNG FSRU offshore Tuscany
Italian natural gas network company Societa Nazionale Metanodotti (SNAM) has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in the OLT Offshore LNG Toscana company which operates the floating regasification terminal off the West Coast of Italy.
German utility Uniper sells stake in Italian LNG facility on Mediterranean coast to equity fund
OLT Offshore LNG Toscana, the Italian LNG import facility on the Mediterranean coast, said German utility Uniper has sold its stake in the terminal company to global equity fund First State Investments.
OLT Offshore said the German-owned stake from Uniper amounted to 48.24 percent and has been transferred to First State Investments, though the value of the transaction was not disclosed.
The remaining original shareholders are Italian utility, the Iren Group with 49.07 percent, and vessel owner Golar LNG with 2.69 percent.
The company operates the “FSRU Toscana”, moored 22 kilometres off the coast between the cities of Livorno and Pisa.
The floating storage and regasification unit is connected to the Italian national gas transmission grid through a 36.5km pipeline from the shore to the mainland.
OLT Offshore provides mainly peak-shaving services as part of the Italian government’s energy security and diversification plan.
The new investor First State said it was looking forward to working with its co-shareholders and employees to ensure OLT continues to provide a safe and reliable service.
Since operations began in 2013, the FSRU has handled cargoes from 10 different countries, Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Qatar, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States.
Re-loaded cargoes are also received from other European terminals such as Rotterdam and those in Spain.
At full capacity, OLT Offshore's terminal can regasify 3.75 billion cubic metres per annum of natural gas, the equivalent of 2.77 million tonnes a year of LNG, or around 4 percent of Italy's annual needs.
As part of the First Investment stake purchase Giovanni Giorgi, currently OLT’s Operations Manager, has been appointed Managing Director in succession to Uniper’s nominee Richard Fleischmann.
Giorgi will serve as joint MD with Alessandro Fino, who has held the role since December 2014.
