LNG

OLT Offshore LNG Toscana has made available regas capacity for November annual and multi-year allocation – without expression of interest – from the Gas Year 2026/2027 to Gas Year 2043/2044. The auctions will be held from November 26 to December 3 through GME’s platform.

Adriatic LNG, the operator of the largest of three Italian regasification terminals, said it was ready to offer more capacity to Italy and Europe with an increase from 8 billion cubic metres per annum to 9 Bcm per annum.

The terminal is located 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) off the Veneto coastline and is a gravity-based structure.

The Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition, with Decree 4 of March 15, 2022, verified the facility’s compliance with the environmental pre-operating conditions of a new decree.

The terminal has been on line since autumn 2009 and is a private operator. It is co-controlled by ExxonMobil Italiana Gas and Qatar Terminal Ltd, a subsidiary of QatarEnergy, while Italian gas network operator SNAM has a 7.3 percent shareholding.

It has so far handled more than 800 cargoes at its offshore base. The terminal includes two LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 125,000 cubic metres.

“The Adriatic LNG terminal is a unique case in the panorama of Italian and European regasification terminals, as it has for years boasted the highest average utilization rate. It was 92 percent in 2021 against a monthly average at European level of between 29 percent and 40 percent,” said the company.

Private resources

“In addition, the infrastructure was built and is managed with private resources without, therefore, any financial burden on the gas system and without constituting a cost in the bill for citizens,” it added.

By increasing its regasification capacity, Adriatic LNG will be able to make a greater contribution to meeting the country's natural gas needs as it will be able to cover around 12 percent of annual Italian consumption.

“We have reached an important milestone at a critical time for our country's energy security,” said Alfredo Balena, Director of Public of Government Affairs at Adriatic LNG.

“Increasing the capacity of our terminal represents for Italy and also for Europe a tangible way to increase and diversify LNG imports,” added Balena.

Adriatic LNG is capable of receiving almost all classes of LNG carriers, with a capacity ranging from 65,000 cubic metres up to 217,000 cubic metres capacity.

The increase in regasification capacity at the Adriatic terminal will be achieved through the optimisation of the operating conditions of the infrastructure, without any structural changes to the current configuration.

The eight supplying countries so far to the Adriatic facility have been Qatar, Angola, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Equatorial Guinea, Norway, Nigeria and the US.

April 3 (LNGJ) - OLT Offshore LNG Toscana, the Italian floating import company with a facility offshore the Mediterranean port of Livorno, said that starting from April 10 the regasification capacity of OLT will be awarded via auctions on the Platform for the Allocation of Regasification Capacity operated by the Italian power exchange management company Gestore Mercati Energetici (GME). OLT and GME have signed an accord on allocations. “This agreement regulates the relations between GME and OLT,” said OLT. “The platform will be in operation from April. OLT will launch the first monthly auction on April 10 in order to offer the regasification capacity available from May to the end of September,” it explained. OLT offshore operates the “FSRU Toscana”, moored 22 kilometres off the coast between the cities of Livorno and Pisa and connected to the Italian national gas transmission grid.

German utility and energy company Uniper has organized the delivery of the first US LNG cargo to Italy and the 156,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Wilpride” is currently unloading the shipment at a floating import terminal off the Italian west coast port of Livorno.