Italy new LNG terminal to be operational at end-month, Snam CEO says
PIOMBINO, Italy, May 5 (Reuters) — The new floating terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) set up in the Tuscan port of Piombino will start its commercial operations at the end of this month, the CEO of Italy’s gas grid operator Snam said on Friday.
The terminal will make available around 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas this year and around 5 bcm next year said Snam’s Stefano Venier at a press conference to mark the arrival of the first LNG tanker in Piombino.
“This ship is a great service to the country,” Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said at the same event.
The expansion is part of the Italian government’s strategy for replacing Russian gas with alternative supplies. (Reporting by Silvia Ognibene; writing by Francesca Landini Editing by Keith Weir)
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.