Page 6 - Euroil Week 06 2020

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil
Montenegro eyes LNG hub status
MONTENEGRO
Montenegro currently lacks a gas grid.
THE Montenegrin port of Bar is interested in building a terminal to import US LNG, its director Vladan Vucelic told local press on February 12, after energy officials from Washington visited the site earlier this month for talks.
The US Department of Energy’s assistant sec- retary for fossil fuels, Steven Winberg, toured the Adriatic port on February 6 to discuss US LNG imports, Vucelic said, according to a media inter- view shared on the port’s website.
“That port is ideally positioned to accept LNG and would be a hub from which to trans- port liquefied gas to other countries; it is a deep water port and can accommodate ships coming from the United States,” Winberg said in a video uploaded by Montenegrin public broadcaster RTCG on February 10. “Whenever you have a new energy source, it creates energy stability and security.”
Montenegro lacks a gas grid, relying instead on coal and hydroelectric power plants to cover its electricity and heating needs. The proposed Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) is due to run through the country, however, providing it with access to Azeri gas from the Southern Gas
Corridor (SGC), and LNG imported at a termi- nal being built in Croatia.
IAP has been under discussion for more than a decade and it still has not been sanctioned. Similarly, there is no firm plan in place for Mon- tenegro’s regasification. The country cannot become a hub for LNG imports unless these projects materialise.
The US expanded LNG exports to Europe to a record 18.3bn cubic metres last year, up from 3.7 bcm in 2018. Washington now wants to estab- lish a beachhead for US gas in southeast Europe – a region heavily dependence on supplies from Russia
Croatia and Greece are also advancing new LNG import projects. The US wants to work with these two countries, Montenegro and oth- ers in Eastern Europe to develop the region’s gas infrastructure. In late January, the United States Energy Association (USEA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a memorandum with 10 East- ern European countries on this initiative, which has the objective of “facilitating the creation of a regional gas market with potential for US deliv- eries.” ™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 06 13•February•2020