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Equatorial Guinea approves plan to have Saipem build offshore gas line
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
Gas is due to flow from the Alen platform to the Alba LNG and EG LNG plants.
EQUATORIAL Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has given a green light to a project that will support ongoing efforts to promote the development of offshore natural gas deposits.
The ministry said last week that it had approved the award of a contract to Saipem (Italy) for the construction of a pipeline that will connect offshore gas fields to the petrochemi- cal complex that is being built at Punto Europa. Saipem will be building the link for a joint ven- ture operated by Noble Energy (US) along a 70-km route originating at the Alen Unit site, which straddles Blocks O and I offshore Equa- torial Guinea.
The parties finalised an agreement on the pipeline project in April of this year. The value of the deal has been estimated at $90-100mn.
Saipem expects to finish the pipeline in time to handle initial production from Alen Unit, which is due to come on stream in the first quarter of 2021. The link will have a throughput capacity of 9.82bn cubic metres per year.
Equatoguinean Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said that the approval of Saipem’s contract would
promote economic growth in Equatorial Guinea. “We anticipate that this contract, which is being approved exceptionally under the given circum- stances, will contribute immensely to improving the performance of local businesses and the crea- tion of employment, [which] is [a top] priority of the ministry,” he commented last week.
Noble said in May that it was taking steps to promote the development of Alen Unit. It said it was gearing up to make minor modifications to its offshore Alen platform in order to facilitate exports. Gas is due to flow from the platform to the Alba LNG and EG LNG plants in Punto Europa via the new pipeline. According to previ- ous reports, Alba LNG will need to be modified to take delivery of the Alen Unit gas, while EG LNG is already capable of doing so without any special arrangements.
The Alen platform is being transformed into an offshore hub capable of handling gas from Blocks O and I, from other Equatoguinean off- shore fields and from other locations within the Gulf of Guinea region. It will eventually serve as a component of the gas mega-hub that Malabo wants to build in Punto Europa.
Tango LNG loads first commercial cargo
PERFORMANCE
ARGENTINA’S national oil company (NOC) YPF has loaded its first commercial cargo of LNG from Tango, a floating gas liquefaction facility anchored near Buenos Aires.
According to press reports, YPF transferred the LNG onto Excalibur, an LNG tanker owned by Excelerate Energy, in late October. The ship, which was also used to deliver Tango LNG’s first test cargo to Cheniere Energy (US) earlier this year, is now anchored near Bahia Blanca.
YPF has not said exactly how much LNG it loaded onto the Excalibur. But it did call a tender that expired on November 6 for the sale of 2.1tn British thermal units (about 41,500 tonnes) of LNG on a delivered-ex-ship (DES) basis.
As of press time, the NOC had not revealed the results of the tender. It has indicated, though, that the cargo will be exported to a customer somewhere in the Atlantic Basin.
Reuters quoted an unnamed trade source as saying that the LNG was probably headed for
Europe or the Americas rather than a long-haul destination. Tango LNG’s first commercial cargo “will likely end up in Europe or Americas, as they don’t have the shipping length,” he told the news agency.
The floating LNG (FLNG) unit takes about 40 days to load each full cargo, Reuters’ source noted. Tango LNG’s next shipment will be loaded onto Methane Kari Elin, a tanker owned by Gaslog LNG Services (Greece), he added.
Argentina exported its first LNG cargo in June of this year, several months after taking delivery of an FLNG unit from Exmar (Bel- gium). The vessel is processing gas from Vaca Muerta, a shale formation that contains substan- tial reserves of crude oil and natural gas.
Tango LNG, which can turn out 500,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG, is currently Argen- tina’s only gas liquefaction plant. YPF has said it wants to build another facility with a capacity of 5mn tpy.
AMERICAS
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 45 14•November•2019
