LNG

Sardinia FSRU plan

SNAM, the Italian natural gas grid operator and LNG import terminal stakeholder, has signed a contract with shipping and project company Golar LNG to charter the carrier “Golar Arctic” as a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to be deployed in the port area of Portovesme on the Italian island of Sardinia. The Mediterranean island already has a small-scale onshore import facility owned by Avernir LNG. The Golar charter contract was valued at €269 million ($282.5M) and includes the vessel and the costs to Golar of converting the “Golar Arctic” into an FSRU with storage capacity for up to 140,000 cubic metres.

Norway gas forecast

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has updated its estimate of projected European natural gas sales in 2022 to about 8 percent higher than last year and set to be bolstered by the restarting Hammerfest LNG export plant in Northern Norway and with the volumes helping to offset declining Russian gas sales. The Ministry said deliveries of natural gas from the Norwegian Continental Shelf are expected to be around 122 billion cubic metres by the end of 2022 compared with 113 Bcm in the previous year.

Korean yard orders

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), the country’s largest shipyard group, said it won $910 million of orders to build four LNG carriers. Two KSOE affiliates, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, will construct two 174,000 cubic metres capacity vessels each and deliver them to an Asian buyer from the first half of 2025.