Page 13 - GLNG Week 43 2020

GLNG AFRICA GLNG

Egypt’s Idku LNG plant prepares

to load first cargo since July

PROJECTS & EGYPT’S Idku LNG plant is gearing up to load discovered offshore and several have already
COMPANIES its first cargo for export since July, Reuters has entered production.
reported citing data provided by Kpler. National gas output rose 12.4% year on year
The Cape Ann LNG tanker arrived at Idku to a record 7.2bn cubic feet (around 9.3bn cubic
on October 26 and is expected to carry the ter- metres) per day in the 12 months ending June 30,
minal’s first export cargo since three months according to Egypt’s petroleum ministry. How-
ago, according to Kpler. The July shipment was ever, weak global gas prices have discouraged the
the first since late March, when Egypt halted export of supplies.
exports in response to the collapse in global LNG Egypt’s only other LNG terminal at Damietta
prices triggered by the coronavirus (COVID-19) has been idle since 2012, back when the coun-
pandemic. try lacked the gas supply to keep it running. Its
The 7.2mn tonne per year (tpy) Idku plant has restart was anticipated sooner, but has been com-
shipped out only seven cargoes totalling 0.45mn plicated by a legal dispute over compensation
tonnes of LNG this year, Kpler estimates, ver- due to the operators after the plant was closed.
sus 57 cargoes of some 3.66mn tonnes in size in Damietta LNG is operated by Union Fenosa
2019. Royal Dutch Shell operates the first and Gas (UFG), a 50:50 joint venture between Eni
second Idku trains with stakes of 35.5% and 38% and Spain’s Naturgy. Under a February deal to
respectively. Other partners include Malaysia’s resume operations, UFG’s 80% share in Dami-
Petronas, France’s Engie and Egypt’s two main etta was to be divided between Eni and EGAS.
state oil and gas companies, EGAS and EGPC. This would have left Eni with 50%, EGAS with
Egypt now enjoys surplus gas supply follow- 40% and EGPC with 10%. However, EGAS
ing the 2017 launch of the giant Zohr field in the revealed in early April that the agreement had
Mediterranean, led by Italy’s Eni. Since Zohr’s fallen through, amid uncertainties created by
start-up, a number of other gas fields have been the pandemic.™

AMERICAS

IEnova mulling co-operation

with CFE for ECA project

PROJECTS & THE Mexican infrastructure firm IEnova has
COMPANIES said it is interested in teaming up with the state-
run power provider CFE for the Energía Costa
Azul (ECA) project, which will involve the con-
struction of a natural gas liquefaction plant at the
site of an existing LNG regasification terminal.
IEnova, which is the Mexican subsidiary of
US utility Sempra Energy, said in a recent con-
ference call that the terminal would help CFE
to use its transport capacity at the national grid
better. “We have a strong and constructive rela-
tionship with CFE,” IEnova’s CEO Tania Ortiz
Mena said during the company’s third-quarter “We continue to work closely with the federal
conference call, according to S&P Global Platts. government to obtain the export permit and ...
The company also said that it still expected [take a] final investment decision shortly,” Mena
the Mexican government to award it an export was quoted as saying by Reuters.
permit soon. The company cannot take a final The terminal would become IEnova’s first
investment decision (FID) on the ECA project, LNG export facility. The company’s existing
which is expected to cost about $1.9bn, until it LNG terminal, which began operating in 2008,
meets this milestone. is only used to import LNG.

Week 43 30•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13