LNG

Charter rates are steady

Shipping charter rates for LNG carriers in the spot market were steady. Rates were quoted at an average of between $33,000 per day and $30,000 per day West of Suez and at rates of between $32,000 per day and $29,000 per day East of Suez for vessels of between 155,000-165,000 cubic metres capacity, according to various brokers. One-year time charters were steady for the most modern vessels and were seen at rates of around $43,000 per day. Brokers said West of Suez activity included a handful of fixtures and free-on-board transactions.

Norwegian plant restart

Equinor of Norway said it would restart Europe’s only baseload LNG export plant at Hammerfest on June 18 after scheduled maintenance of several weeks has been completed. Equinor’s liquefaction plant shut-down reduced natural gas production by 18 million cubic metres per day from the Snohvit feed-gas field. The single-Train Hammerfest plant supplies cargoes to LNG import terminals such as those in Spain and in northwest Europe from the Netherlands to Lithuania.

Gladstone award for KBR

Energy engineer KBR was awarded an energy efficiency study from Australia’s Santos for its Gladstone LNG plant on Curtis Island in Queensland. KBR will assist GLNG in identifying potential modifications to boost the operations at the facility through improvements to thermal efficiency while also accounting for the associated reduction in carbon emissions. GLNG is a joint venture of Santos, Malaysia’s Petronas, France’s Total, and Korean Gas Corp.