LNG

April 28 (LNGJ) - Qatar is delivering the first two LNG cargoes to the UK in May. The 261,700 cubic metres capacity carrier “Lijmiliya” is scheduled to arrive in the UK from Ras Laffan on May 1 with a shipment for the South Hook facility in the Welsh port of Milford Haven, according to the port authorities. Another Qatari carrier, the 266,000 cubic metres capacity vessel, the “Al Dafna”, is due to berth at South Hook on May 5.

   The latest shipments are scheduled as the UK National Balancing Point natural gas benchmark price and the main Continental European price, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), are both at seasonal highs. Both prices were quoted at the equivalent of $7.60 per million British thermal units.

India’s liquefied natural gas imports fell for a third month and by over 20 percent amid a slow economic recovery because of the ongoing effects of Covid-19, while the nation was still working on a better geographic spread of regasification facilities.

Qatargas has completed another LNG shipping feat with the first ever commercial ship-to-ship transfer of a cargo involving a Q-Flex LNG vessel at Subic Bay in Philippines.

A full cargo of 212,000 cubic metres aboard the Qatargas-chartered Q-Flex vessel “Mesaimeer’ was loaded at Ras Laffan Port on the 18th December 2020 and delivered as two separate parcel discharges.

One parcel was delivered as the ship-to-ship transfer in Subic Bay on the 6th of January 2021 and the second parcel as a delivery at the Jiangsu LNG terminal in China.

Qatargas said that both sales were made to PetroChina as the customer.

“We are delighted to announce this shipping breakthrough as it is for the first time that one of the largest LNG vessels, a Q-Flex, is involved in a commercial STS operation,” said Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Chief Executive of Qatargas.

“This achievement will enable us to transport considerable volumes as efficiently as possible into key markets,” added Al-Thani.

“Moreover, this will be an attractive option for our potential customers with limited shipping capacity and for those who are looking for smaller or irregular sized cargo parcels,” he explained.

Qatargas intends to continue to optimise its shipping capabilities by using the most efficient LNG vessels to shift volumes into key high-value markets.

“I would like to thank PetroChina, who are one of our long-term partners in the LNG industry, for their support and cooperation,” stated the Qatargas CEO.

The vessel “Mesaimeer” is on a long-term charter to Qatargas and is operated by Nakilat Shipping (Qatar) Limited.

Another landmark shipping feat to demonstrate the company’s customer-focused service was carried out in June 2019 by the 266,000 cubic metres capacity Q-Max carrier “Mekaines”.

It loaded a cargo at Ras Laffan in Qatar and delivered two cargo “parcels”, one to the Barcelona terminal in northeast Spain and a second to the Cartagena regasification facility in southeast Spain.

The Q-Max vessels are the largest class of LNG vessels in the world, allowing the Qataris to deliver two full conventional-sized cargoes on one vessel.

In the same year, the 210,100 cubic metres capacity Q-Flex carrier “Al Safliyah” became the largest LNG carrier to transit the Panama Canal at the time when it sailed from the Pacific to the Atlantic side and then proceeded to the US export plant at Sabine Pass to break new ground in trading activities by lifting another cargo.

The “Al Safliyah” had left Ras Laffan in the Gulf with a cargo on April 5, 2019, and then unloaded the shipment at the Korea Gas Corp.-owned import terminal at Tong-Yeong in South Korea.

It then headed across the Pacific to complete the 80-kilometres Panama Canal passage to lift another cargo.

The successful transit of “Al Safliya” through the Canal created future triangulation Pacific-Atlantic opportunities for the Q-Flex fleet.