According to brokers, PGNiG Supply & Trading, the company owned by Poland’s LNG importer, is looking for a vessel that could be chartered for a period of three to five years. It is not clear how it intends to use the vessel, writes TradeWinds.
There is speculation that the gas carrier could be used to transport US gas exports by Venture Global LNG, which has said it will be ready to launch its new liquefaction plant by the end of this year.
At the end of July this year, we reported in the pages of the Maritime Portal about the chartering by PGNiG of two tankers (the third and the fourth) to carry liquefied natural gas from the Norwegian shipowner Knutsen OAS Shipping. The vessels will be purpose-built for the PGNiG Group and will enter service in the first half of 2024.
In late October 2020, the Polish company signed a contract with Knutsen for its first two new LNG vessels. The duo were valued at $187.5m each and are due for delivery in 2023.
In addition, in July PGNiG reached an agreement with Venture Global Plaquemines and Venture Global Calcasieu Pass on terms for the purchase of an additional 2 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year for 20 years. As a result, the total volume of LNG that PGNiG will receive from Venture Global LNG may increase to 5.5 million tonnes per year.
Paweł Majewski, who serves as PGNiG’s CEO, spoke at the time about the company’s developing position on the international LNG market and stressed that chartering LNG carriers provides certainty, flexibility and helps build a competitive advantage.
Liquefied gas plays a key role in the implementation of PGNiG’s strategic aspirations. It is an essential part of diversifying our import portfolio and serves to strengthen the energy security of our customers. At the same time, we want to use LNG to intensively develop our commercial activities on the global natural gas market. The extension of our cooperation with Venture Global LNG is part of the implementation of both these goals – said Paweł Majewski, President of the Management Board of PGNiG SA.
As TradeWinds writes, the recent blocking of construction of the Baltic Pipe pipeline project after Denmark refused to grant an environmental permit may tempt PGNiG to return to a more spot or short-term LNG market. Baltic Pipe was due to start transporting gas from Norway’s North Sea sector to Poland via Denmark from 2022.
Poland, which began importing LNG in 2015, wants to stop buying Russian gas after 2022.
rel. AL/PortalMorski.pl
