Lloyds List: Shell gas project will need $3bn fleet of mammoth LNG carriers: “SHELL has unveiled a major liquefied natural gas project in Qatar which could require a $3bn fleet of the largest vessels ever built in this sector.”: Thursday December 22, 2005
Oil major secures extra US import capacity to handle output, writes Tony Gray
SHELL has unveiled a major liquefied natural gas project in Qatar which could require a $3bn fleet of the largest vessels ever built in this sector.
The oil major has also secured additional import capacity in the US to handle the LNG.
The Qatargas 4 project, 70% owned by Qatar Petroleum and 30% by Shell, will involve a 7.8m tonnes a year liquefaction plant and related shipping capacity.
The majority of the LNG will be delivered to the growing market in North America from about the end of the decade.
A Shell spokesman said the project was seeking long-term charters on nine vessels of between 210,000 cu m and 265,000 cu m.
As there are no vessels in service of this size, Shell and its partner Qatar Petroleum will have to resort to the newbuilding market through its shipowning partners.
At the upper end of this size range, a newbuilding order can be expected to cost more than $300m.
Shell also disclosed that it had reached agreement with El Paso Corp for the acquisition of capacity at the Elba Island LNG import terminal in Georgia in the US.
El Paso plans to more than double Elba Island's storage capacity to 15.7bn cu ft by adding 8.4bn cu ft.
As part of this expansion, BG Group will increase its storage capacity from 4bn cu ft to 8.2bn cu ft and increase its vapourisation capacity from 675m cu ft per day to 1.17bn cu ft per day.
The expansion is expected to be completed before the end of 2012.
- ConocoPhillips plans to make an application for planning permission for a LNG regasification facility and combined heat and power plant at Teesside in the UK.
The application is being made on behalf of Norsea Pipeline, whose shareholders include subsidiaries of Total, ConocoPhillips, Statoil, Eni and Norsk Hydro.
Once a final investment decision has been taken, the facilities could be operational within three to four years.
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