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Italian LNG terminal fully booked for next gas year
PERFORMANCE
ITALY’S 3.75bn cubic metre per year O shore LNG Toscana (OLT) import terminal is set to run at full capacity in the gas year starting Octo- ber 1, amid soaring LNG supplies to Europe.
All 41 of the plant’s booking slots have been lled, its operator OLT said on September 10. At peak capacity, it can supply 4% of Italian gas demand.
Since its launch in 2013 the terminal, near Ita- ly’s western port of Livorno, has taken LNG from Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Qatar, Trinidad & Tobago, the US and other countries. e US is one of its leading suppliers, accounting for 36% of total cargo received.
A raft of new project start-ups in the US, as well as weaker demand, has led to a ood of extra LNG arriving on European shores this year. Data from analytics firm Refinitiv show that LNG accounted for 14% of gas supply in Cen- tral and Western Europe between October 2018 and August 2019, versus 5% in the same period a year earlier.
OLT, which has seen near-total utilisation in the current gas year that runs until Septem- ber 30, also attributed the growth in booking in the upcoming 12-month period to a new auction-based capacity allocation mechanism launched last year.
The project is run by Italian utility Iren Group, which has a 49.1% interest, in partner- ship with global asset manager First State Invest- ments with 48.2% and gas shipping group Golar LNG with 2.7%.
Italy used around 72.7 bcm of gas last year, of which around 59 bcm was imported via pipeline
and 8.9 bcm through LNG terminals, with the remainder covered by domestic supply.
The country began receiving sizeable vol- umes of LNG following the launch of its largest import terminal, the 8 bcm per year Adriatic LNG, in September 2009. A ceremony was held to mark the decennial anniversary of the facility’s start-up on September 10.
Adriatic LNG has taken ashore more than 700 LNG cargoes, or 59 bcm, of gas over the last decade, with the bulk of supply coming from Qatar, according to its operator. Qatar Petroleum (QP) is one of its shareholders, joined by Exxon- Mobil and Italy’s Snam.
Italy’s gas balance is likely to tip further in favour of piped imports once the Trans-Adriatic
Pipeline (TAP) starts up shortly. TAP will pro- to tip further in
vide up to 10 bcm per year of gas from Azerbai- jan to customers in Albania, Greece and Italy.
Italy has also mooted buying extra Russian
gas from the TurkStream pipeline, slated for
completion in 2021. Italy should be able to meet
demand quite easily by taking gas from TAP and
utilising more of its spare LNG import capability. Pipeline starts up Russia may be able to entice Italian buyers with
lower prices, however.
Domestically, there is limited upside for gas production. Italy’s upstream sector has long been impeded by excessive red tape and public oppo- sition to drilling. Earlier this year the govern- ment even imposed a ban on o shore permits, as part of plans to reduce Italy’s carbon footprint. Some geologists have said that, in the right reg- ulatory conditions, Italy could produce many times more gas than it currently does.™
Italy’s gas
balance is likely
favour of piped imports once the Trans-Adriatic
shortly.
P10
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 36 12•September•2019