Yamal and Fluxys Contract for LNG Transhipment at Zeebrugge Terminal

Russian Yamal LNG and Belgian Fluxys LNG have signed a 20-year contract for transhipment of up to 8 million tons of LNG per year at the LNG-terminal in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, to support year-round LNG deliveries from the Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic part of Russia to markets in Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

"A transhipment platform in Northwest Europe is a key element to our transportation and logistics arrangement," says Evgeniy Kot, Yamal LNG's general director, underlining the Yamal LNG project is progressing well, following the schedule. With the new transhipment volume of 8 million tons per year, Zeebrugge will see a significant increase in ship movements. "Thanks to a long-term agreement with such an ambitious LNG supplier we will embark on a new considerable investment for the terminal development," says Pascal De Buck, CEO at Fluxys Belgium.

Short way summers, busy winters

During the Arctic summer, Yamal LNG will deliver its LNG to Asian-Pacific markets via the northern sea route, using ice class ARC7 LNG tankers. In winter periods, the Arctic LNG tankers will transit via the Zeebrugge LNG terminal. There Fluxys LNG will provide services to tranship LNG onto conventional vessels, used for final delivery to Asian-Pacific markets via the Suez Canal.

Increasing capacity

According to Fluxys this contract reinforces the Belgian gas system as a crossroad for international flows and the position of Zeebrugge as an all-round LNG hub in Northwest Europe. With transhipment services added to its offering the terminal will provide a complete range of services for large LNG volumes as well as for small-scale use for vessel bunkering and trailer loading. The transhipment services require the construction of the already planned fifth storage tank and additional process facilities. Together, the four existing storage tanks can hold 380.000 m³ of gas. The design for a fifth tank has been upgraded from 160.000 towards 180.000 m³.  The first production of LNG in Yamal, using gas from the South Tambeyskoye field, is expected in 2017.

Yamal LNG' shareholders are the Novatek (60%), the Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC, 20%) and the French group Total (20%). Several Belgian authorities together own, by very complex intermediate holding structures, a large majority of the Fluxys shares. Fluxys is both owner and operator of the Belgian infrastructures for the transport and storage of natural gas and for LNG terminals.

Koen Mortelmans