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GLNG AFRICA GLNG
Nigeria LNG signs gas delivery deal with Vitol, finds gas for Train 7
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
NIGERIA LNG (NLNG) has signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Vitol, the inter- national commodities trading giant.
Vitol said in a statement last week that the deal covered remarketed volumes of LNG from NLNG’s first, second and third production trains. The SPA provides for Nigeria LNG to sup- ply 500,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG on a delivered ex-ship basis over a period of 10 years, it explained. Shipments will begin in October 2021, it added.
As of press time, Vitol had not commented on the value of the deal. It did say, though, that the SPA would help Nigeria LNG whilst also reducing global CO2 emissions. “The agreement underscores NLNG’s drive ... to deliver LNG on a global scale in a low-carbon world where gas/ LNG will continue to be the preferred comple- mentary energy source alongside renewables,” it said.
Reuters, meanwhile, noted that the agree- ment would also help NLNG find a buyer for production from Trains 1, 2 and 3. Several of the supply contracts covering LNG from these trains
– including documents signed with Botas (Tur- key), Total (France), Naturgy (Spain) and Galp Energia (Portugal) – are due to expire next year or in 2021, it said. These deals call for NLNG to deliver 2.67mn tpy.
In related news, NLNG also said last week that it had signed agreements with three joint ventures on the procurement of natural gas supplies for the seventh production train of its gas liquefaction plant on Bonny Island. It iden- tified the ventures as Eni’s Nigerian Agip Oil Co. (NAOC), Shell Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC) and Total E&P Nigeria (TEPNG)
The signing of these agreements will help NLNG meet all the conditions for making a final investment decision (FID) in favour of building Train 7 at its gas liquefaction plant on Bonny Island. Mele Kyari, the head of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), stressed this point, saying: “NLNG Train 7 is of utmost significance to the country. Delivery [of] gas to Train 7 is key. Gas supply is one of the critical conditions to be delivered, and we can’t build the plant until we have confirmed gas supply.”
Petrobras to begin leasing LNG terminal in north-eastern Brazil
POLICY
BRAZIL’S state-run oil company Petrobras has said it will begin leasing its LNG regasification terminal in the north-eastern part of the country, in line with a national effort to open up the coun- try’s natural gas market to more competition.
Along with the LNG terminal, the major will also begin leasing a gas pipeline that is associated with the facility, which is situated in Bahia State.
In July, Petrobras signed an agreement with the South American nation’s anti-trust regula- tor, known as CADE. In the accord, it pledged to open up the Brazilian gas market to more com- petition, partly by ending its own monopoly.
The company stressed this point last week, saying in a statement: “The lease is in line with Petrobras’ strategy of improving its capital allo- cation and building a favourable environment for new investors to enter the natural gas sector.”
Petrobras has initiated pre-bid procedures for those parties that are interested in taking part in the auctions, which will proceed in compliance with state law, the statement added.
The lease agreement does not include the
Golar Winter floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU). This vessel is currently installed at the site, which covers an area of 138 square km. The associated 45-km gas pipeline, which orig- inates at the LNG terminal in the Bahia state capital of Salvador, has two gas exit points at Sao Francisco do Conde and Sao Sebastiao do Passe.
Petrobras currently has three LNG regasifica- tion terminals. Currently, though, only two are operational – the Bahia facility and the Pecem port facility in Ceara State. A third terminal located in the state of Rio de Janeiro has been idle since September of last year.
All three of these terminals were built by Petrobras. Nevertheless, a number of pri- vate-sector companies have said they intend to establish a foothold in the country’s nascent LNG industry. There are plans to build at least 23 new LNG terminals in Brazil. Two of these are already in the construction phase, while another 10 are in the licensing phase and 11 are the sub- ject of initial studies, according to Brazil’s federal energy planning agency, known as EPE.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 50 19•December•2019
