UPDATE: BG Group: Commissioning Cargo Arrives At Dragon LNG
July 14 2009 - 10:45AM
Dow Jones News
BG Group PLC (BG.LN) said Tuesday it has delivered the
commissioning cargo to the U.K.'s Dragon liquefied natural gas
terminal.
The Methane Lydon Volney vessel arrived from Atlantic LNG
Trinidad at Dragon's Berth number oneaccording to the port
authorities Web site, with a cargo of 145,000 cubic meters of LNG
provided by BG Group.
Further shipments are expected over the next few weeks, a
spokesperson for the terminal said.
BG Group has a 50% stake in the terminal, located at the port of
Milford Haven in South Wales. Its partners are state-owned
Malaysian energy company Petronas with 30% and privately-owned
Dutch gas company 4Gas with a 20% share. BG and Petronas between
them have contracted for the full capacity at Dragon LNG's Milford
Haven site over the next 20 years.
According to data on the National Grid Web site, the volume of
gas taken from the National Transmission System in order to
commission the Dragon terminal for Gas day July 12 was 0.005
million cubic meters.
U.K. natural gas prices have sunk to two-year lows this week in
anticipation of a glut of LNG supply flooding the market in weeks
to come, adding pressure to prompt values.
The launch of Dragon's operations follows the launch of the
South Hook terminal, also in Milford Haven, which received its
first cargoes in May this year. Between them, the terminals have a
capacity to supply up to 25% of the U.K.'s gas requirements.
South Hook is a new company formed through the joint venture of
subsidiaries of its three shareholders, Qatar Petroleum with a
67.5% stake, ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) with 24.15% and Total SA (TOT)
with 8.35%.
The U.K.'s primary regassification terminal, the Isle of Grain
terminal in Kent, southeast England, is able to import 9.8 million
metric tons of LNG a year. U.K.-based oil and gas major BP PLC
(BP), state-owned Algerian energy company Sonatrach, U.K. utility
Centrica PLC (CNA.LN) and French utility GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) are
the capacity holders at Grain.
Centrica confirmed Tuesday it took delivery of LNG vessel Al
Kharsaah from RasGas of Qatar, at the Isle of Grain on Saturday.
This is the eighth cargo into the Grain terminal since
commissioning in the fourth quarter 2008.
Company Web site: http://www.nationalgrid.com
Company Web site: http://www.bg-group.com
-By Angela Henshall and James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; +44
(0)20 7842 9285; angela.henshall@dowjones.com