LNG

The Danish Energy Agency has updated its winter season needs and has given an insight into the Nordic region’s continued requirements and for pipeline natural gas and LNG to keep flowing to the European Union.

Dec 15 (LNGJ) - The 172,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Georgiy Brusilov” is scheduled to deliver a cargo on December 22 to the UK Dragon LNG import terminal at Milford Haven in Wales from the Yamal export plant in northern Siberia. The shipment was heading for the UK as winter season prices remained firm, with the National Balancing Point benchmark quoted at the equivalent of $6.40 per million British thermal units. The continental European Dutch Title Transfer facility (TTF) price was lower at the equivalent of $5.90 per MMBtu.

July 21 (LNGJ) - European natural gas prices and LNG indicators moved close to monthly lows as the UK National Balancing Point price and the Dutch Title Transfer Facility price dropped to the equivalent of $1.55 per million British thermal units and $1.60 per MMBtu respectively. One of the next LNG cargoes scheduled to arrive in the UK is on July 27 when the 216,200 Q-Flex vessel “Al Gattara” will discharge its load at the South Hook terminal at Milford Haven, according to the port authorities.

OLT Offshore LNG Toscana SpA, the owner of the floating storage and regasification unit “FSRU Toscana”,  located offshore the West Coast of Italy, is auctioning a quantity of natural gas subject to various conditions.

The amount on offer is 101,400 megawatt hours under the conditions of a purchasing contract.

In addition, any bidders must have access to the Italian Virtual Exchange Point, the Punto di Scambio Virtuale (PSV), the national natural gas trading platform.

The Italian PSV is the sixth largest in Western Europe, after the Netherlands, the UK, Germany’s two trading points and the French platform, Trading Region France.

A second condition of the gas auction is that any buyer must have capacity access to the Italian natural gas transport system of Societa Nazionale Metanodotti (SNAM) Rete Gas SpA.

A final condition is that the documentation must be submitted from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon on 20 March 2020.

“Offers sent before or after this deadline will not be taken into consideration and will be automatically excluded,” said OLT Offshore.

SNAM agreed to acquire a controlling stake in the OLT Offshore LNG Toscana company in September 2019.

The vessel “FSRU Toscana” is moored 22 kilometres off the Italian coast between the cities of Livorno and Pisa.

It is connected to the Italian gas grid through a 36.5-kilometre pipeline from the shore.

SNAM acquired 49.07 percent of the share capital of OLT from Italian utility company, the Iren Group, and took joint control of the terminal with the global equity fund First State Investments.

The equity fund First State also bought German utility Uniper’s 48.24 percent stake in the facility in May 2019.

The only remaining original shareholders from the start-up of the LNG import project offshore Tuscany in 2013 is vessel owner Golar LNG with 2.69 percent.

Since operations began, the FSRU has handled LNG cargoes from 10 different countries, Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Qatar, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States.

The OLT Offshore facility  has traditionally provided national peak-shaving services to Italy with LNG cargoes.

SNAM said that is acquisition of OLT guaranteed industry expertise in the management of  a vital piece of infrastructure for the Italian energy system’s security and flexibility.