Finnish state-owned energy firm Gasum has delivered another liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to the Inkoo FSRU-based terminal operated by Gasgrid.
Gasum said that the LNG cargo of about 800 GWh has arrived from USA on Tuesday, and it was supplied by the company’s new LNG trading partner SEFE Marketing & Trading, a unit of Germany’s SEFE and previously known as Gazprom Marketing and Trading.
According to its AIS data, the 2008-built 149,700-cbm, Amur River, delivered the LNG shipment from Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana to Excelerate Energy’s 150,900-cbm FSRU Exemplar, which serves Gasgrid’s import facility in Inkoo under a charter deal.
Amur River is owned by Dynagas LNG Partners and serves a charter with SEFE.
Securing supply during winter
Gasum said this is the fourth large LNG cargo the company has delivered to the Inkoo FSRU since the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia suffered a rupture and was shut down in early October.
In addition, Gasum delivered a “smaller 100 GWh cargo with its own LNG vessel Coral Energy early January to Gasgrid to ensure system balancing and mitigating the risk of inadequate gas during the extraordinarily cold period,” it said.
While the pipeline is being repaired, all Finnish natural gas demand must be met through imports of LNG, Gasum noted.
“We have been working hard to secure supply of natural gas during the winter season to our customers, whose operations depend on a steady supply of gas,” Jouni Liimatta, head of trading and optimizing at Gasum, said.
“The cold period has increased local gas demand and thus, we are very pleased that we were able to secure the required ice-classified LNG vessels for the winter season with the offer coming from SEFE Marketing & Trading Ltd. This transaction highlights the importance of a broad cooperation network in challenging situations”, Liimatta said.
In addition to this delivery, Gasum has reserved another slot at the Inkoo FSRU for the latter part of the winter season.
These two cargoes will ensure that Gasum can meet the natural gas demand of its customers until spring 2024, Gasum said.
Besides Gasum, Eesti Gas, a unit of Estonian investment firm Infortar, said in November last year it would deliver three more LNG cargoes to the FSRU-based terminal during the winter.