Poland’s PKN Orlen said it had received the 200th cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Swinoujscie terminal since the start of operations.
The 173,400-cbm LNG carrier Seapeak Creole delivered the milestone shipment to the President Lech Kaczynski LNG terminal in Swinoujscie from the US, PKN Orlen said in a statement on Thursday.
PKN Orlen completed on November 2 its previously announced merger with Poland’s dominant gas firm, PGNiG, which is in charge for all of the LNG supplies coming to the Swinoujscie facility, operated by Gaz-System.
The Swinoujscie LNG terminal received its first commercial cargo in June 2016. Prior to that it also received two commissioning LNG cargoes.
According to PKN Orlen, the 50th LNG cargo arrived at the facility in January 2019, while the 100th delivery landed in July 2020.
It took only 28 months to reach the 200th shipment, almost two times less than in the case of the first 100 shipments, it said.
Polish LNG imports jumped this year
Poland’s LNG imports surged this year as Poland and other European countries replace Russian pipeline gas supplies with LNG and boost energy security.
The growth of LNG imports was possible due to the expansion of Gaz System’s facility in Swinoujscie, where PKN Orlen booked a regasification capacity of 6.2 bcm per annum since this year. This is some 1.2 bcm more than before.
Thanks to further investments, the capacity will increase to 8.3 bcm of gas per year in 2024 and PKN Orlen booked all of these volumes as well.
PKN Orlen said that the facility had received record 52 LNG cargoes this year. Up to date, the Swinoujscie LNG terminal received 21 billion cubic meters.
Qatar remains the main supplier of LNG to the facility with 110 cargoes, followed by the US with 72 shipments, Norway with 13 shipments, Nigeria with three shipments, and Trinidad and Tobago with two shipments.
US will become the main supplier of LNG to Poland in the upcoming years once PKN Orlen starts receiving supplies under previously agreed long-term contracts with Venture Global and possibly other producers such as Sempra as well.