LNG

D.Trading, the trading arm of Ukraine’s DTEK Group, has completed a delivery of U.S.-origin LNG to the Netherland’s Gate terminal in Rotterdam. Though volumes and origin of the cargo was not disclosed, the shipment underlines D.Trading growing involvement in the Atlantic Basin.

Swiss LNG-equipment firm Burckhardt Compression has strengthened its service business in the maritime and petrochemical industry with expansion into the LNG port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Burckhardt said it signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of  the shares in Mark van Schaick BV.

“The company has more than 20 years of experience in machining and is a leader in servicing complex repairs such as crankshafts,” explained Winterthur-based Burckhardt.

Burckhardt said that last year the Mark van Schaick company recorded sales of about 9 million Swiss francs ($9.8M) with 27 employees.

“With the acquisition of Mark van Schaick BV, Burckhardt specifically complements its repair and service capabilities in Europe and further expands its presence in the service business for reciprocating compressors,” stated the company.

“Burckhardt hereby also gains highly specialized machining expertise and repair capabilities for the global customer base in the maritime and petrochemical industry,” it added.

“In line with our strategic ambitions, we strengthen our repair and machining capabilities with highly specialized know-how to serve our customers as full-service provider,” declared Marcel Pawlicek, Chief Executive of Burckhardt.

Burckhardt added that both parties had agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Closing is expected within the next few weeks.

Burckhardt itself reported a rise in fiscal first-half operating income as sales surged and earnings per share jumped.

Burckhardt reported “significantly higher’ order intake of 450.7 million Swiss francs ($493.5M), up 48.7 percent from 303M francs ($332M) in the year-ago period.

One of Burckhardt’s key new products in the LNG shipping sector is its Laby GI Compressor type LP250, the world’s first oil-free reciprocating high-pressure fuel-gas compressor in service.

Burckhardt’s fuel-gas compressor system plays an important role on LNG carriers to help maximise fuel efficiency.

In addition to its Swiss operations, Burckhardt has expanded in recent years to run businesses in the US, Japan and China.

Burckhardt gave a qualified outlook for fiscal 2021 as a whole and currently expects group sales of between 620M Swiss francs to 650M Swiss francs and higher profit margins.

This assumed that there would be no further serious outbreaks of Covid-19 in markets relevant to Burckhardt and that the global economy continued to recover.

The Dutch Gate LNG import terminal in Rotterdam, now the focus of more trans-shipment activity from Russia, has requested interested parties to book capacity in an open season process.

French container ship company CMA CGM plans to use the Dutch port of Rotterdam as its primary bunkering port when its new LNG-powered fleet of nine vessels start being delivered by Chinese shipyards from 2020.

April 30 (LNGJ) - The 145,700 cubic metres capacity carrier “LNG Benue” will unload a shipment on May 1 at the Barcelona import terminal from the Nigerian export plant at Bonny Island in the Niger Delta, according to shipping data. The 140,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Arctic Voyager” will deliver a cargo May 2 to the Lithuanian import terminal at the Baltic port of Klaipeda from the Hammerfest plant in Northern Norway. The 141,000 cubic metres capacity vessel “LNG Cross River” well deliver a shipment on May 5 to the Portuguese terminal at Sines from Nigeria LNG. The 210,000 cubic metres capacity Q-Flex vessel “Al Nuaman” will deliver cargo to the Dutch port of Rotterdam on May 11 from the Qatargas plant at Ras Laffan.

Royal Dutch Shell, one of the leading participants in the global LNG and natural gas market, is to end its 100-year presence in New Zealand by selling its shares in eight businesses for US$578 million to Austrian energy operator OMV, a company being helped by Shell to become an LNG importer using the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

Feb 26 (LNGJ) - The 172,600 cubic metres capacity carrier “Christophe de Margerie”, is scheduled to deliver a shipment on March 2 to the Dutch Gate import terminal in Rotterdam from the Russian Yamal plant in Siberia, according to shipping data. The 138,100 cubic metres capacity vessel Gemmata, operated by Shell Shipping, is scheduled to arrive on March 1 at the US Cove Point export plant in Maryland, owned by Dominion Energy, after previously docking at the Peru LNG plant at Pampa Melchorita.

July 12 (LNGJ) - The Dutch Gate LNG import terminal, a joint venture facility owned by the utility Gasunie and global storage giant Royal Vopak, has started commercial operations at two new truck-loading bays. “By adding two new truck-loading bays to the existing bay, the Gate terminal is prepared to efficiently cater for future growth in the demand for LNG distribution via road or containers. This will support the efforts of Gate terminal customers to deliver LNG to retail stations, industry and ships,” Gate said. The Dutch terminal started the truck service in 2014 with one bay and has experienced a year-by-year surge in the business leading to 750 trucks being loaded in the first half of 2017.

May 25 (LNGJ) - Dutch natural gas utility Gasunie, a shareholder in the Gate LNG import terminal in Rotterdam, has had its credit outlook changed to “positive” from “stable” by US ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service. Gasunie said its A2 credit rating was affirmed. The positive outlook means that the Gasunie credit rating could be upgraded in the next 18 months because of its “solid financial profile despite lower future revenues and lower capital expenditure in the coming years.”

Gasunie, the Dutch natural gas company and Rotterdam LNG import terminal co-owner, said profits plunged because of an impairment linked to a regulatory ruling as revenues also declined amid more small-scale LNG shipments and low-calorific conversion of pipeline gas because of the cap on Groningen field production.