LNG

Adriatic LNG, the company operating the biggest LNG regasification terminal in Italy offshore the northeast coast, has launched the accreditation phase for its Open Season 2022 for European and international operators.

The UK Isle of Grain LNG import terminal, located on the Medway River southeast of London in the county of Kent, intends to launch an Open Season to market capacity that will become available in the near future amid record usage and expansion plans.

Adriatic LNG, the operator of the largest of three Italian regasification terminals, said it would launch the open season bidding at the end of May 2022 to allocate the regasification capacity available from the end of 2022 to 2047.

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.

Adriatic LNG, the operator of the largest LNG regasification terminal in Italy, said it had a positive conclusion to the 2021 open season and was preparing for next year’s process from May 2022.

The terminal, located 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) off the Veneto coastline, covered the allocation by tender of regasification capacity for a total amount of 2 billion standard cubic metres over a period of about three years.

“After a long and comprehensive public consultation process that began in early February 2021, the tender was conducted in a manner similar to those used by the aggressive competitors of LNG terminal operators in Europe with some notable improvements to benefit competition in the gas market,” said Adriatic LNG.

“Reliability, efficiency, and the fact that it is the only LNG regasification terminal in Italy 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, make Adriatic LNG's service particularly attractive to national and international operators, improving competition in the Italian gas market,” it added.

Auctions

Adriatic LNG’s open season culminated in a series of non-binding and binding auctions between interested operators between November 26th and into December 2021.

The terminal has been on line since autumn 2009 and is a private operator which enables cargo imports amounting to about 10 percent of the national gas consumption of Italy.

Adriatic LNG 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 gravity-based structure facilities.

The terminal includes two LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 125,000 cubic metres.

“In this regard, it should be noted that the project to increase the regasification capacity of the Adriatic LNG terminal from 8 to 9 billion cubic metres a year has been approved by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the authorisation is now in the finalisation phase,” explained Adriatic LNG.

“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,” added the company.

In the open season, Adriatic LNG said it offered flexibility and gave the opportunity to operators to submit, for certain types of products and within specific limits, personalized bids by requesting the reduction of duration and/or annual volumes.

Adriatic LNG noted that in a gas market in constant evolution and increasingly ready to offer price opportunities and delivery flexibility, the company invites interested operators to consult its website for the short-term regasification service offer and to participate in the open season 2022 that will start at the end of May 2022.

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. 

Adriatic LNG, the company that owns and operates the largest LNG regasification terminal in Italy located 17 kilometres off the Veneto coastline, is launching its open season in September to allocate regasification capacity for up to 25 years.

Adriatic LNG, the offshore import terminal owned by Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, has launched a consultation for the auctioning of a potential 153 billion cubic metres of regasification capacity over the next 25 years.

Interested parties have 45 days to submit observations on products and allocation rules.

Adriatic LNG has been operating since it was deployed in 2009 on a gravity-based structure off the coast of the Veneto region.

The operating company said the subjects of the two-fold consultations are, on the one hand, the products to be allocated and, on the other hand, the amendments to the Regasification Code needed to carry out the open season.

“With the public consultation we take a further step to create one of the most important events for the entire energy market of the Mediterranean area,” said Sebastien Bumbolo, Adriatic LNG Law & Market manager.

“The latest developments in the regulatory framework implemented in Italy have new rules on the allocation of LNG regasification capacity which have already been successful in other European Countries,” added Sebastien Bumbolo.

“Adriatic LNG is able to offer to the market large volumes through long-term allocations,” he stated.

The joint venture operating company is controlled by ExxonMobil Italiana Gas and Qatar Terminal Ltd and a third shareholder is the Italian natural gas grid operator, SNAM, with a 7.3 percent stake.

Adriatic LNG has contributed to satisfying Italy’s gas security by already delivering 69 Bcm of regasified LNG into the national pipeline network.

Cargoes of LNG have been received at the Adriatic facility from eight nations, Angola, Qatar, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Equatorial Guinea, Norway, Nigeria and the US.

The company said all gas and LNG market players, both at national and international levels, have access to the Adriatic LNG proposals and can send their observations by March 22nd, 2021.

Further details are on its Web site at www.adriaticlng.it/en