The first gravity-based system (GBS) LNG terminal, Adriatic LNG, reached its final destination off the coast of Italy on September 15. Though it is the first of its kind, it also might be the last.

The terminal has been both long-awaited and increasingly expensive. The project’s LNG sales and purchase agreement was signed with RasGas all the way back in 2001, which called for deliveries of 3.5 million tons per year. At that time it was hoped that the terminal could be operational by 2007. Concomitantly, what was a $900 million project in 2004 ultimately became, according to the Spanish transport publication, Veintepies, more than a $1.5 billion project at completion. More...

Slowing imports, stagnating storage levels, worries about energy security and energy costs: one might associate this scenario with North America’s natural gas situation. However, the UK seems to be exhibiting these symptoms as well, and the solutions and consequences are both complicated and critical.

The United Kingdom has no fewer than eight world-scale receiving terminal projects, two operational, with the remainder either under construction or in the permitting phases. At least four will focus on Welsh baseload power demand: Dragon LNG and South Hook LNG, which are under construction, and Port Talbot and Isle of Anglesey Terminal, which are proposed. More...

1) Adriatic LNG Reaches its Final Location

The world’s first gravity-based LNG terminal, Adriatic LNG, reached its final location in the northern Adriatic Sea on September 15, where it will be capable of supplying 10% of Italy’s annual natural gas needs. More...

1) Afren, EDF, and Gasol to Form African LNG Joint Venture

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1) Taiwan’s CPC to Acquire 5% of RasGas 2

CPC Corporation, based in Taipei, announced September 20 that it had signed an agreement with Qatar’s Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company II (RasGas 2), in which CPC would acquire a 5% interest in one of RasGas’ production trains. More...

1) CLP shelves South Soko LNG terminal plans

Due to pressure from environmental groups, as well as an external energy agreement between the Chinese government and Hong Kong, CLP decided to shelve its proposed South Soko LNG terminal.More...

1) Chevron Increases Planned Wheatstone LNG Output

On September 24, Chevron announced that it envisions the production capacity of its proposed Wheatstone LNG facility to increase by 67%. The proposal would make the terminal a five train facility with LNG production of 25 million tons per year (mty). More...

1) Kitimat LNG Decides to Become LNG Exporter

The proposed Kitimat LNG terminal is following some other North American receiving terminals in switching from being an import facility to an export facility. Rosemary Boulton, the President of Kitimat, noted that the spike in North American supply is due in part to advances in drilling technologies. Unlike some U.S. projects, Kitimat intends to liquefy and export domestic, Canadian gas to higher-priced Asian markets, as opposed to transshipping. The company has entered into a memorandum of understanding with a multinational corporation that is currently conducting a feasibility study to participate in the project.More...

Venezuelan energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., announced on September 23 an agreement with Gazprom that represents the Russian company’s first proposed foreign project that would produce LNG.

In a Gazprom press release, it was stated that: "[t]he Blanquilla and Tortuga project includes exploration and production of natural gas on the continental shelf, its sale on the domestic market and its liquefaction and export. More...