Yamal LNG Starts Using New Belgian Storage Tank
The Yamal LNG liquefaction plant in the Russian Arctic has begun using a new transhipment tank at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal in Belgium to handle its gas, Yamal LNG’s operator Novatek said in a stock filling on December 27.
Yamal LNG has been using Zeebrugge and other European ports to tranship LNG from its ice-class tankers to conventional carriers, in order to cut transport costs and ensure year-round delivery. In 2015, it signed a 20-year deal with Fluxys, Zeebrugge LNG’s operator, for the annual transhipment of 8mn mt of LNG. The pair agreed on construction of a new 180,000-m3 storage tank at the Belgian facility specially for this purpose.
Novatek has a 50.1% share in the Yamal LNG project, launched in December 2017, while the remaining equity is divided between France’s Total and China’s CNPC and Silk Road Fund. The plant’s design capacity should reach 17.4mn mt/yr following the launch of a 0.9mn mt/yr fourth train early next year.