Yamal LNG to pay 1 bln euro to transship LNG at Belgium's Zeebrugge
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) - Yamal LNG will pay 1.011 billion euro to Belgian Fluxys LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) transshipment services at the port of Zeebrugge, the Russian company said in its IFRS earnings report.
"The liability under this contract is 1.011 billion euro, to be paid over 20 years from the date LNG transshipment services begin," Yamal LNG said.
It was reported earlier that Yamal Trade, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamal LNG, and Fluxys LNG have signed a 20-year contract on LNG transshipment services at Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal totaling up to 8 million tonnes a year, which will make it possible to supply LNG to the Asia-Pacific market year-round, Yamal LNG said.
With the new service on transshipment, the terminal will now provide the full spectrum of services both for major LNG volumes and smaller volumes: bunkering and filling of rail cisterns. The transshipment service provides for construction of a fifth LNG storage tank and additional processing facilities, Yamal LNG said.
A source told Interfax previously that Zeebrugge, the biggest LNG transshipment terminal in Europe and its most liquid hub, has no spare capacity and the Yamal LNG deal will require construction of a new, 180,000 cubic meter storage tank. Novatek emphasized that Fluxys would shoulder the construction costs, and Yamal LNG would receive exclusive rights to utilize the new capacity.
During the Arctic summer, Yamal LNG will ship LNG to the Asia-Pacific market eastward on the Northern Sea Route in purpose-built Arctic class ARC7 carriers, with capacity for 170,000 cubic meters. During winter, the LNG carriers will head west to Zeebrugge, where Fluxys LNG will unload the LNG from ARC7 tankers and reload it onto conventional LNG carriers for subsequent delivery to the Asia-Pacific market via the Suez Canal.
The buyers of Yamal LNG output are Spanish Gas Natural Fenosa (2.5 million tonnes; DES - "delivered ex-ship"), Gazprom trading company Gazprom Marketing and Trading (2.9 million tonnes) and the Yamal LNG shareholders: Novatek Gas & Power (2.38 million tonnes), Total Gas & Power (up to 4 million tonnes) and China National Petroleum Corporation (3 million tonnes).
The Yamal LNG project involves building a plant capable of producing 16.5 million tonnes of LNG a year from gas produced at the Yuzhno-Tambeiskoye field. Yamal LNG's main shareholder is Novatek with 60%. CNPC and France's Total each own 20%.