LNG

Enagás, the Spanish natural gas operator of six large LNG terminals and with gas assets in other European countries, has successfully sold €600 million of bonds as it also allocated half of its available regasification capacity for the next 15 years.

The Enagás 10-year bonds will mature in 2034 and have an annual coupon of 3.625 percent.

The bonds had five-times more offers to buy than the issuance required.

“Although the company does not have relevant maturities until the end of the year, it has taken advantage of the good market conditions at the beginning of the year to carry out this issue, extend the average life of its debt and thus have part of the upcoming maturities covered,” the Madrid-based company explained.

“The success of the placement, both in term and in financing cost, contributes to improving the good financial situation of the company, which has diversified financing sources,” it added.

Slot allocations

Spain’s Enagas said that its recent LNG allocation represented nearly all of the slots it had offered to date, reinforcing Spain’s status as key hub for LNG imports in Europe.

The prominence of the Spanish in the LNG sector is further highlighted by the fact that its regasification terminals accounted for almost one-third of LNG storage in Europe as of mid-January 2024.

Enagás also started up the El Musel LNG trans-shipment terminal in 2023 in the Port of Gijón in northwest Spain to supply other EU nations and assigned its logistics services to the European utility Endesa.

The grid company owns five large Spanish terminals at Barcelona in the northeast, at Cartagena in the southeast, at Sagunto in the east of Spain, at Huelva in the southwest and the El Musel facility.

Enagás additionally holds a 50 percent stake at another northwest facility serving the northwest port of Bilbao and owns two small regasification terminals in the Canary Islands.

Spain’s storage levels are still at around 85 percent filled and the LNG is supplemented by pipeline gas supplies from Algeria.

Other stakes

Enagás in July 2023 closed an agreement to acquire an additional 4 percent stake in the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), taking its stake in the pipeline bringing Azerbaijan gas to Europe up to 20 percent.

In other LNG activities outside of Spain, Enagás became an industrial partner with a 10 percent stake in the Hanseatic Energy Hub consortium planning an onshore LNG import terminal at the German North Sea port of Stade.

Spanish natural gas and LNG terminals operator Enagás has signed an agreement with the Port of Huelva in southwest Spain to promote various gases including bioLNG made from waste.

French and Spanish engineering companies have been awarded the contract for the onshore LNG import terminal being developed at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River north of Hamburg.

Enagás, Spain’s natural gas grid and LNG network operator, reported slight declines in 2022 net profits and revenues after a year of high volatility in the energy markets with the Spanish Gas System operating without halt and Enagás infrastructure helping maintain the security of supply of the European Union.

German Chancellor Helmut Scholz has led an inauguration ceremony for the nation’s first LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the “Höegh Esperanza”, at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven.

Enagás, the Spanish natural gas grid and LNG terminals operator. posted a 15 percent increase in net profits and said the network of six LNG terminals had saved the country money and confirmed the opening in early 2023 of a seventh and existing LNG export terminal dedicated to European Union supplies.

Enagás executives and Spanish local and government officials have visited the Spanish Gijón regasification terminal at El Musel in the Asturias region of northwest Spain and have proposed the facility as an LNG hub for re-exporting cargoes into the European Union.

After their visit and talks on July 7, the Spanish issued a statement saying that the El Musel terminal could contribute up to 8 billion cubic metres per annum of LNG deliveries and contribute to the EU’s energy security.

Present at the El Musel talks were Spain’s Vice President and Minister for Energy and Ecology, Teresa Ribera, the President of the Asturias region, Adrián Barbón, the Mayor of Gijón, Ana González, and the Chief Executive of Enagás, Arturo Gonzalo.

Enagás has capacity at six LNG regasification terminals in Spain. It owns five terminals at Barcelona in the northeast, at Cartagena in the southeast, at Sagunto in the east of Spain, at Huelva in the southwest and at the El Musel facility.

It also owns a 50 percent stake at another northwest facility serving the northwest port of Bilbao and owns two small regasification terminals in the Canary Islands.

The statement went on to explain that logistical use of the El Musel facility would contribute energy supply in Europe because of the reducing dependence on Russian pipeline natural gas.

“The terminal allows the unloading of LNG carriers from various producing countries and the rapid re-loading of ships for different European destinations,” they explained.

Storage and berths

The El Musel facility has a storage capacity of 300,000 cubic metres in two tanks each with 150,000 cubic metres of capacity.

It also has docking and unloading facilities designed for the largest LNG carriers such as the Qatari Q-Max vessels of 266,000 cubic metres capacity.

Enagás disclosed after the meeting at El Musel that it had obtained the Administrative Authorization for El Musel’s use as a hub, a key step in starting up the Asturian terminal, and added that it could be operational for logistics use within a period of between six and eight months.

“The facility can contribute to the security of energy supply in Europe, with the capacity to unload and load 100 LNG ships per year,” said the statement.

This authorization will follow soon after a favourable report from Spain’s National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), clearing the way for the approval of the Environmental Impact Statement (DIA) for the terminal and its support facilities.

El Musel will have a special status so that it can be used for LNG logistical services with a start-up order from the Energy Ministry and with Enagás in charge of the technical operations.

“Once this process is finished, the plant could be operational for logistical use in a period of between six and eight months,” explained Enagás CEO Gonzalo.

“At the Gijón terminal they can unload and load more than 100 LNG ships per year, which represents a contribution of up to 8 Bcm,” added Gonzalo.