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It has also introduced auctions to sell off any slot Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, but that
that becomes available within 2-3 days before route more than doubles journey time to around
transit owing to last-minute cancellations. On 38 days. Given the higher costs of longer jour-
January 14, the authority said five auctions had neys, LNG vessels would be expected to avoid
been conducted to date, and four slots awarded this option.
to LNG carriers. However, Energy Aspects has estimated that
A trip from the US to Asia via the Panama around one third of LNG carriers loading from
Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific the US took the long route in December, illus-
oceans, can take around 15 days according to trating how strong Asian demand for LNG had
Reuters. The alternative is to sail around the become. ™

ARUBA
Eagle LNG aims to build LNG import

terminal near San Nicolas refinery

US-BASED Eagle LNG Partners has signed
a letter of exclusivity with Refineria di Aruba
(RdA), the operator of the San Nicolas refinery
on Aruba, on the construction of a new LNG
import terminal.
A spokesman for Eagle LNG told Argus
Media last week that the letter outlined plans for
the installation of an LNG receiving and regas-
ification terminal on Aruba. He did not reveal
the terms of the document or specify the size of
the proposed terminal, but he did indicate that
the parties intended to continue discussions on
the matter.
“[The letter of exclusivity] allows us to evalu-
ate engineering and permitting needs that are all
part of the steps toward a definitive agreement,”
said the spokesman, who was not named. “Our
goal is to begin construction and begin hiring
this coming summer.”
He further stated that Eagle LNG had agreed
to make LNG available for delivery to Aruba’s
thermal power plants (TPPs) and water treat-
ment stations, which are currently reliant on
heavy residual fuel oil. Additionally, he said, the
company hopes to see Aruba become a hub for
LNG distribution and marine bunkering in the The LNG terminal will be near the San Nicolas refinery (Photo: Curaçao Chronicle)
future.
Eagle LNG and RdA have not yet drawn up refinery that would complement larger-scale
an estimate of the cost of the project, he added. efforts to develop Aruba’s economy.
Government-owned RdA announced plans The San Nicolas refinery was until recently
to work with the US-based company in Decem- under the control of PdV Holding (PDVH), a
ber, around the same time it revealed the results US-based affiliate of the Venezuelan national
of a tender for the right to build new facilities oil company (NOC) PdVSA. However, the gov-
on the 3.75-square km site that houses the San ernment of Aruba terminated PDVH’s lease in
Nicolas refinery. early 2020, after that company’s subsidiary Citgo
The company also announced the results of Aruba Holding (CAH) reported that it was una-
a parallel tender at the same time, saying that ble to uphold its commitment to renovate the
a US consortium known as Quanten had won plant, along with its storage, docking and termi-
the right to lease, operate and modernise the nal facilities, and keep it supplied with crude oil.
oil-processing plant. Jeff Myers, the CEO of US-based Eagle LNG Partners has said it
the group, told Argus Media at the time that his hopes to become a key supplier of LNG to buy-
company intended to build a more up-to-date ers in the Caribbean region. ™

Week 04 28•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7