LNG

Italian natural gas grid and LNG terminals operator SNAM reported an increase in annual revenues as LNG imports rose along with storage levels to cope with the European gas crisis.

The oldest Italian LNG import terminal, the onshore Panigaglia facility near the port of Genoa, is set to receive more cargoes for the 2022-2023 winter season as the nation fully mobilises its regasification assets to help the European Union emerge from the supply crisis.

Panigaglia was Italy’s first ever LNG terminal and has been operational since 1969.

The Italian gas grid operator SNAM, whose name comes from Societa Nazionale Metanodotti (National Pipeline Company), runs the Panigaglia terminal as well as having a 49 percent stake in the LNG facility, the “FSRU Toscana”, moored off the Italian coast off the port of Livorno.

Italy currently has three full-scale LNG import terminals, the third being the Adriatic terminal co-owned by units of ExxonMobil Corp, and QatarEnergy.

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

The first additional cargo for Panigaglia was delivered on October 9 from Angola in southwest Africa after having been reloaded onto smaller ships at Spanish terminals for them to be compatible with the onshore terminal in Italy’s Liguria region, the crescent shaped coastal area also known as the Italian Riviera.

Cargo deals

“Further LNG deliveries from Egypt and Algeria are also expected in October at onshore Panigaglia,” said a statement from the supplier, Italian oil and gas company Eni.

“The overall contribution of additional LNG volumes to Italy, thanks to the availability of regasification terminals currently under development (FSRUs), will exceed 2 billion cubic metres between 2022 and 2023,” explained Eni.

“It will progressively reach 7 Bcm between 2023 and 2024, and will exceed 9 Bcm between 2024-2025, in addition to further supplies to be delivered via pipeline,” stated Eni.

SNAM has additionally agreed to buy a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) from BW LNG of Singapore after purchasing the first FSRU from Norwegian fleet owner Golar LNG.

SNAM has signed an agreement to buy the “BW Singapore” which like the Golar vessel can act as a conventional carrier or an FSRU.

The “BW Singapore” was built in 2015 and has storage capacity of about 170,000 cubic metres and a nominal continuous regasification capacity of about 5 Bcm per annum.

The FSRU, which is currently bound by a charter agreement with a third party until November 2023, is expected to be based in the upper Adriatic Sea, close to Ravenna.

SNAM said the “BW Singapore” acquisition was financed from its own resources for an amount of around $400M.

SNAM agreed a similar deal at the start of June 2022 with Golar LNG, acquiring the FSRU “Golar Tundra” for $350M.

The 170,000 cubic metres capacity “Golar Tundra” may be deployed near a port on the Italian island of Sardinia.

The two FSRUs acquired by SNAM will contribute 13 percent of the national gas demand alone. 

The chief executives of Italian energy company Eni and Algerian LNG, pipeline natural gas and oil group Sonatrach have signed an accord related to the North African nation’s onshore Berkine Basin.

Sonatrach CEO Toufik Hakkar and his Eni counterpart Claudio Descalzi, signed the deal in the presence of the Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Mohamed Arkab and Italian Ambassador to Algeria Giovanni Pugliese.

“Eni and Sonatrach also signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on initiatives in the energy transition,” said a statement.

“The agreements are testimony to the commitment of Sonatrach and Eni to continue the shared strategy of accelerated project development,” said Eni CEO Descalzi.

The Algerian Government noted that the Berkine Basin contract was the first ever signed under the aegis of the new Algerian oil law and covers an area of 7,880 square kilometres in the southern part of the Berkine Basin, in close proximity to the company's current production assets.

More E&P

Descalzi and Hakkar stated that they shared the commitment to create an ambitious exploration and development programme in the area.

“In the first phase, the project envisages the fast-tracked development of reserves estimated at 135 million barrels of oil equivalent, with a start-up of production expected by the end of 2022,” it added.

“This project will enhance synergies with existing plants. The entry into force of the new contract is subject to approval by the competent Algerian authorities,” they stated.

Eni has been present in Algeria since 1981 and is the operator of various permits with an equity production in the country of 95,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Eni also recently agreed earlier in December 2021 to sell a minority stake in two pipelines involved in transporting natural gas from Algeria to Italy for €385 million ($435M) to Italian LNG terminal and gas grid operator Snam.

Eni said that deal involved Snam purchasing a 49.9 percent stake in the onshore gas pipelines running from Algeria to the Tunisia border and the Tunisia coast (TTPC), and the offshore gas pipelines connecting the Tunisian coast to Italy (TMPC).

Eni said the transaction would create synergies in the respective areas of expertise in gas transport on a strategic route for the security of the natural gas supply to Italy.

Snam said the deal consolidated Snam’s central role in Italy’s security of supply as well as in energy transport from the Mediterranean region.

Snam operates the gas grid and the onshore Panigaglia facility in the northwest near Genoa as well as having a 49 percent stake in the LNG facility, the “FSRU Toscana”, which is deployed off the Italian west coast.

Italian natural gas network company and LNG importer SNAM reported a more than 8 percent increase in net profits as more natural gas was used in Italy and it benefited from foreign investments in the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline bringing gas from Azerbaijan and its stake in the Abu Dhabi’s pipelines system in the United Arab Emirates.

Italian natural gas network operator Snam, one of Europe’s leading energy infrastructure companies, said it expected Kuwait Petroleum Corp., the Arab Gulf oil and gas company, to select a winner soon to run a liquefied natural gas import facility for which Italy’s grid operator has made a bid through a subsidiary.

OLT Offshore LNG Toscana, the Italian floating storage and regasification unit deployed offshore Tuscany, is working at almost 100 percent of its capacity less than a year after the implementation of new allocation mechanisms via auction.

OLT Offshore LNG Toscana, the floating terminal offshore the Italian Mediterranean port of Livorno in Tuscany, has chosen the winner of a liquefied natural gas cargo tender from six offers received.

US energy services company Baker Hughes-GE has signed an agreement with Italian natural gas network company Snam to develop small-scale liquefaction infrastructure to improve Italian supplies of LNG fuel for heavy-duty trucks and maritime transportation.