Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

Lloyds List: Gate agrees Rotterdam lease for LNG terminal

Shell becomes ninth company to sign up for Maasvlakte import and regasification project, writes Helen Hill in Amsterdam, Lloyds List: Published: Apr 18, 2007

GATE terminal and Port of Rotterdam Authority have agreed a long-term lease of 50 years for a 23 ha site on the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam to develop an LNG import and regasification facility.

Gate terminal is a joint venture between the Dutch gas firm Nederlandse Gasunie and tank terminal operator Royal Vopak.

The project also took a further step when Shell Energy Europe and Gate terminal signed a heads of agreement contract for capacity rights for a maximum of 4bn cu m of annual throughput.

This deal with Shell gives the company capacity rights for the second phase of the LNG project.

Shell is actually the ninth company to sign up for the project. Gate terminal announced that eight companies had made agreements last year but only two names have been revealed.

German electricity and gas company RWE signed a contract for a guaranteed 3bn cu m throughput capacity per year. RWE is also to acquire a 10% equity stake in Gate terminal.

The other firm to reveal its hand was French firm EDF which signed a preliminary agreement to reserve 3bn cu m per year at the terminal.

EDF is also set to acquire 10% of the capital of the Gate terminal project.

Vopak spokesman Rolf Brouwer said Shell is the ninth customer to sign up for the project and for the second phase.

Initially, the Gate terminal will have a capacity for between 8bn cu m and 12bn cu m to be operational by mid-2010 at the earliest, and then in the second phase this could go up to 16bn cu m. But as yet no final decision has been taken for the project. The firms that have made agreements are busy trying to ensure a gas supply and are still in negotiations.

Before the terminal gets the go-ahead, a volume of 8bn cu m has to be in place.

A final investment decision is expected to be reached mid-2007.

With the lease for the site signed, the Port of Rotterdam will start to develop this area to accommodate the layout of the LNG terminal.

The European Commission has also agreed to the decision by the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs to grant Gate terminal an exemption from the regulatory regime as laid down in the Dutch Gas Act.

 

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.