LNG

The oldest Italian LNG import terminal, the onshore Panigaglia facility near the port of Genoa, is set to receive more cargoes for the 2022-2023 winter season as the nation fully mobilises its regasification assets to help the European Union emerge from the supply crisis.

Panigaglia was Italy’s first ever LNG terminal and has been operational since 1969.

The Italian gas grid operator SNAM, whose name comes from Societa Nazionale Metanodotti (National Pipeline Company), runs the Panigaglia terminal as well as having a 49 percent stake in the LNG facility, the “FSRU Toscana”, moored off the Italian coast off the port of Livorno.

Italy currently has three full-scale LNG import terminals, the third being the Adriatic terminal co-owned by units of ExxonMobil Corp, and QatarEnergy.

Adriatic LNG is located 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) off the Veneto coastline and is a gravity-based structure.

The first additional cargo for Panigaglia was delivered on October 9 from Angola in southwest Africa after having been reloaded onto smaller ships at Spanish terminals for them to be compatible with the onshore terminal in Italy’s Liguria region, the crescent shaped coastal area also known as the Italian Riviera.

Cargo deals

“Further LNG deliveries from Egypt and Algeria are also expected in October at onshore Panigaglia,” said a statement from the supplier, Italian oil and gas company Eni.

“The overall contribution of additional LNG volumes to Italy, thanks to the availability of regasification terminals currently under development (FSRUs), will exceed 2 billion cubic metres between 2022 and 2023,” explained Eni.

“It will progressively reach 7 Bcm between 2023 and 2024, and will exceed 9 Bcm between 2024-2025, in addition to further supplies to be delivered via pipeline,” stated Eni.

SNAM has additionally agreed to buy a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) from BW LNG of Singapore after purchasing the first FSRU from Norwegian fleet owner Golar LNG.

SNAM has signed an agreement to buy the “BW Singapore” which like the Golar vessel can act as a conventional carrier or an FSRU.

The “BW Singapore” was built in 2015 and has storage capacity of about 170,000 cubic metres and a nominal continuous regasification capacity of about 5 Bcm per annum.

The FSRU, which is currently bound by a charter agreement with a third party until November 2023, is expected to be based in the upper Adriatic Sea, close to Ravenna.

SNAM said the “BW Singapore” acquisition was financed from its own resources for an amount of around $400M.

SNAM agreed a similar deal at the start of June 2022 with Golar LNG, acquiring the FSRU “Golar Tundra” for $350M.

The 170,000 cubic metres capacity “Golar Tundra” may be deployed near a port on the Italian island of Sardinia.

The two FSRUs acquired by SNAM will contribute 13 percent of the national gas demand alone. 

The Norwegian small-scale LNG business of Stolt-Nielsen and partners Höegh LNG and Golar LNG has taken delivery of another gas supply and bunkering vessel (LBV) from the Keppel Offshore and Marine shipyard in the Chinese port of Nantong.

The Nordic joint venture called Avenir LNG has named its second 7,500 cubic metres capacity dual-purpose LBV, the “Avenir Accolade”, and it is now available.

The company said the “Avenir Accolade” would enter a three-year bareboat charter to LNG Power Limited, a subsidiary of Hygo Energy Transition to support Hygo’s developments in northeast Brazil.

This is the Avenir joint venture’s first entry into the Latin American LNG market.

Stolt-Nielsen, whose headquarters are in London, started up the small-scale LNG sector firm Avenir in 2015 and its two main investors, Golar and Höegh, each have 22.5 percent of Avenir.

The company said that the “Avenir Accolade” would soon be delivering LNG to Hygo’s customers along the Brazilian coastline.

“Fitted with specialised LNG handling equipment, she will be capable of unloading LNG directly into trucks for onward distribution across Brazil,” said Avenir.

The Hygo company was formerly known as Golar Power and is being acquired by New York-Based New Fortress Energy.

In addition to the growing small-scale LNG fleet, Avenir has an 80 percent stake in a small-scale LNG import project on the Italian island of Sardinia and set to start up soon.

Peter Mackey, Chief Executive of Avenir, said the company strategy was progressing on schedule.

“This is a transformational year for Avenir LNG as we commission our onshore LNG terminal in Sardinia in the coming weeks and continue to expand our fleet with the addition of four more newbuild vessels by year-end,” Mackey explained.

Avenir’s largest bunkering vessel, the “Avenir Allegiance” with 20,000 cubic metres capacity, entered the water in January 2021 at the Zhoushan Changhong Sinopacific shipyard in China’s eastern Zheijang province.

That vessel is scheduled to be delivered from the yard in the third quarter of 2021 and will join the Avenir fleet as the world’s largest LNG bunkering vessel.

Avenir’s first newbuild delivery, the “Avenir Advantage”, took place in October 2020 and has now been followed by the “Avenir Accolade” with other newbuilds, including one named the “Avenir Allegiance”, lined up for delivery during 2021. 

April 16 (LNGJ) - Stolt-Nielsen Ltd, a terminals and shipping company listed in Norway with small-scale LNG projects under development, reported a first-quarter net loss of $20.0 million, with revenue of $498.8 million, compared with a net profit $5.9M, with revenue of $497.5M in the previous quarter. While operating five business divisions, Stolt-Nielsen is pursuing small-scale LNG projects through the Avenir LNG joint venture.