Qatar Books French LNG Import Capacity

Qatar Petroleum has booked LNG regasification capacity for "almost 3mn metric tons (about 4bn m³)/yr" in the French Atlantic terminal at Montoir, Engie said February 20. Expiring in 2035, the contract follows last autumn's deal with Fluxys for capacity at Zeebrugge in Belgium and follows an open subscription period as required by the French energy regulator CRE.

"Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG will thereby become a new LNG import terminal position for Qatar Petroleum in Europe, facilitating the supply of Qatari and internationally sourced LNG to French and European customers," said Engie, the owner of Elengy, which operates the 10bn m³/yr terminal.

Qatar Petroleum CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said: “By signing this agreement, we are providing France, and Europe as a whole, reliable energy supplies, as well as increased utilisation of gas as a cleaner and more environmentally friendly source of energy. We are also taking another step into the future by establishing a long-term partnership with Elengy well into the next decade. And, we look forward to further strengthen this relationship in the future.”

Elengy CEO Sandra Roche-Vu Quang said: “Today is a key milestone for Elengy. As pioneers in the LNG industry, we are extremely proud of this agreement with our Qatari partners, a major step which hopefully will result in an even closer co-operation in the coming years. This contract secures long-term activity at the Montoir-de-Bretagne terminal." 

Commissioned in 1980, the fully regulated terminal has three tanks and can also carry out transshipment operations and is equipped to handle small-scale LNG operations.