LNG

Feb 15 (LNGJ) - Belgium and the Netherlands are scheduled to receive a combined six LNG cargoes through February 24. The 172,600 cubic metres capacity vessel “Vladimir Vize” will discharge a cargo on February 17 at the Zeebrugge terminal in Belgium from the Yamal plant in Arctic Russia lifted on February 11, according to shipping data. A second cargo will arrive at Zeebrugge from Qatar on February 19 on the 210,000 Q-Flex vessel “Al Ruwais”. A third cargo for Belgium will be unloaded on February 24 from the Qatari vessel “Al Deebel” with 143, 000 cubic metres of capacity.

   Three LNG shipments are also headed for the Dutch Gate terminal in Rotterdam. The “Grace Freesia” with 171,000 of capacity was berthing on February 15 with a US cargo from Sabine Pass in Louisiana. The “Vivit Arabia” with 171,000 cubic metres capacity will unload a US cargo on February 18 in Rotterdam from Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana. Then on February 24 the 180,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Adriano Knutsen” will discharge a shipment from Corpus Christi LNG in Texas lifted on February 11, the data showed.

Fluxys Belgium, the operator of gas infrastructure including the Zeebrugge LNG import terminal, has given the go-ahead for the construction of a new pipeline between Desteldonk and Opwijk in Belgium to improve west-to-east gas flows in the European Union.

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has issued details of the 2022 oil and natural gas exploration and production licence round for allocations in predefined areas (APA) on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and with the application deadline set for Monday 12th of September 2022.

Fluxys, the Belgian gas grid and LNG terminal owner, reported annual increased consolidated turnover of €573.2 million ($638.3M) and more shipping traffic and truck-loadings as expansion plans progressed.

Titan LNG, a Dutch supplier to the marine and industrial markets with quayside and ship-to-ship delivery of LNG to river barges and sea-going ships in the ports such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp has commissioned a short-term LNG truck-loading facility in the Belgian Port of Zeebrugge.

Titan said its “Project Bridge” has been designed to accommodate LNG truck-loadings as an interim solution during a four-week period in which the Dutch Gate LNG import terminal in Rotterdam is undergoing essential maintenance.

“The Titan LNG chartered ‘Green Zeebrugge’ is filling up trucks at the quay of the PSA terminal in Zeebrugge to serve bunkering customers in the ARA region, Zeebrugge, and surrounding areas,” explained Titan.

Equipped with two loading bays, the interim fuelling station was commissioned and developed by Titan LNG’s in-house team, in collaboration with small-scale LNG market participants to trial the project’s operations.

To ensure safety the HAZOP and HAZID sessions were performed at short notice.

The Port Authorities of Zeebrugge and the terminal were involved in initial plans for the project to ensure compliance for this temporary set-up, including the step-by-step protocols and designs.

The facility was assembled and is being operated by Rijlaarsdam Tech, Titan LNG’s project partners.

“Operator Rijlaarsdam and Titan LNG passed the vetting and approval process due to the preparation and robustness of the documentation and training of the crew on the quay, providing confidence to the Authorities that safe operations could be carried out for the duration of the four-week period,” said Titan.

“During normal operations, the GATE terminal loads some 600 trailers per month and the Fluxys terminal in Zeebrugge cannot fill this demand for extra slots, meaning it would not have sufficient capacity to ensure the demand for the downstream market,” added the Dutch company.

The project aims to handle additional LNG demand coming to Zeebrugge starting from mid-July of this year and is expected to fulfil up to 300 orders during its deployment.

“This is an immensely proud moment for the team at Titan LNG and for the LNG market sector,” said Michael Schaap, Titan LNG’s Commercial Director of Marine.

“It takes LNG terminals years to install this functionality, and we did it in a matter of months. I would like to thank all our project partners for the hard work and perseverance that went into this success,” stated Schaap.

Tom van den Akker, Project Manager at Titan LNG, said that “Project Bridge” required a broad range of competencies and resources from Titan LNG, including safety managers, operations, engineering, and the commercial department.

“The complexity of the project and the innovation required, in addition to the short deadlines certainly presented some challenges,” explained Akker.

“Our project team successfully hit the milestones that were planned, and we’re extremely proud to bring the solution to the market,” he added.

Current truck loadings are done daily during weekdays, while the “Green Zeebrugge” will load LNG from the Fluxys terminal in Zeebrugge on Saturdays and Sundays to replenish the FlexFueler bunker barges in the ARA area.

Following the completion of the “Bridge” project at Zeebrugge, Titan aims to deploy the same facility to other locations across the European Union. 

Belgian company Fluxys, whose assets include the Zeebrugge LNG import terminal and a stake in Dunkirk LNG in France as well as the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, has agreed to buy a minority stake from the equity fund, EIG Global Energy Partners (EIG), in a gas system operator in Brazil.

The deal is for part of the Brazilian utility, Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolívia-Brasil (TBG), which is the owner and operator of a 2,600-kilometres pipeline system in the southern part of the South American country.

Fluxys said the completion of the equity transfer was expected to take another two months.

Both companies said they would also explore further strategic cooperation in Brazil’s gas infrastructure market.

“Fluxys is looking forward to become an industrial partner in TBG as it is a key energy infrastructure for Brazil and the company’s management and workforce are highly experienced,” stated Fluxys.

The Fluxys infrastructure group employs 1,200 people in Europe in its growing gas transmission and storage and LNG terminal businesses.

Its associated companies across Europe operate 9,000km of pipeline and its assets import 29 billion cubic metres of regasified LNG.

It is also a shareholder in the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, an 878-kilometres transportation system bringing Caspian natural gas from Azerbaijan to Greece, Albania, via the Adriatic Sea and Italy.

“TBG is an excellent fit for Fluxys in its strategy to complement its development in Europe with industrial partnerships in gas infrastructure outside Europe in stable markets with growth opportunities,” said Fluxys.

“Brazil in this respect has high energy demand growth prospects and natural gas allows it to meet this need jointly with renewable energy sources,” the company added.

The Belgian grid operator said the partnership with TBG was an important step in the roll-out of Fluxys’ growth strategy outside Europe.

“Fluxys will open a branch in Brazil shortly for managing its Brazilian interests as well as its further business development in the country and the wider Latin America region,” Fluxys stated.

Fluxys Belgium said first-half net profits increased in a market little affected by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic as the Zeebrugge LNG import terminal experienced record traffic and there was keen interest for additional send-out capacity.

Russia is proceeding with the world’s largest LNG trans-shipment facilities at near the ports of Murmansk and Kamchatka and has received financing for the two floating storage barges being built in South Korea.

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) signed the newbuild deal in 2019 with the project participants, Russian natural gas company Novatek and Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines.

The agreement with DSME is for two very large FSUs worth a total of $750 million and each of the vessels will have capacity of up to 360,000 cubic metres.

Russia's Gazprombank, the finance arm of the natural gas company Gazprom, confirmed it would lend $600M to fund most of the vessel construction costs for Novatek and MOL.

Gazprombank’s loan is denominated in euros and amounts to €522 over a term of 16 years.

The storage facilities will transport LNG from the Arctic-ice class gas carriers to conventional vessels and will be used along the Northern Sea Route, including for Novatek’s Arctic LNG II project which is under construction on the Gydan Peninsula.

Two floating facilities will be set up at Novatek’s gas hubs in the Murmansk region and in the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East.

Korea's Daewoo shipyard expects the FSUs to be completed by the end of 2022, well ahead of the scheduled start-up of Arctic LNG II.

Murmansk will be used for cargoes heading for Western Europe and the Kamchatka base for Asia-bound cargoes.

The FSUs will also store LNG from the Yamal project in Arctic Russia and transfer loads to ice-breaking LNG ships or conventional LNG carriers.

The proposed trans-shipment projects and land stations are expected to be partly financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

The Norwegian logistical and ship management company, Tschudi Shipping, had previously handled the reloading operations off Norway for Russian Yamal LNG trans-shipments after it signed an agreement with Novatek in September 2018.

During 2018 and early 2019 Novatek and its partners used an area off the Norwegian port of Honningsvag as a trans-shipment point for several million tonnes of LNG transferred.
The last LNG tanker left Honningsvag at the start of July 2019.

Belgian natural gas network company Fluxys posted its regulated earnings showing that trans-shipments from the Russian Yamal LNG plant in Siberia had transformed the business of the Zeebrugge import terminal and an agreement with Qatar had sealed a bright future.

Fluxys Belgium reported record activity levels at the Zeebrugge liquefied natural gas import terminal in its first-half earnings for its regulated business and pointed out that the recent signing of a new capacity agreement with Qatar guarantees long-term stability in LNG carrier traffic.