BP and a unit of PetroChina have agreed to book long-term capacity at the Dutch Gate LNG import terminal, owned by Gasunie and Vopak, in the port of Rotterdam.
According to a statement by Gate issued on Thursday, BP and PetroChina International London will each acquire 2 Bcm per year of regasification and also corresponding storage capacity for a period of 20 years.
At the end of 2022, Gate terminal organized an open season to gauge market interest in new storage capacity of 180,000 cubic meters of LNG as well as a regasification capacity increase of 4 Bcm per year.
Gate now has three LNG tanks and with the fourth tank it will have 720,000 cbm of storage capacity, while its regasification capacity will rise to 20 Bcm per year.
The LNG terminal operator said this expansion allows it to better contribute to the supply and availability of gas in the Netherlands and its neighboring countries.
FID by September
In March, Gate’s commercial manager, Stefaan Adriaens, told LNG Prime that Gate expects to take the final investment decision to build the fourth tank by September 1 this year.
Gate said in the new statement that it will continue to closely cooperate with BP and PetroChina with a target of achieving FID, depending on financing and also receiving an exemption amongst other matters, by September 2023 and a start of commercial operations by the third quarter of 2026.
“As BP aims for an LNG portfolio of 30 million tonnes by 2030, this award provides additional regasification capacity in a key location to support security of supply for our European customers”, Jonty Shepard, VP global LNG trading and origination at BP, said in the statement.
As per PetroChina International, the firm is establishing and gradually expanding its global LNG portfolio.
Also, through the company’s long-term commitments and investments, it is bringing “significant and reliable” LNG supplies to the global market from its portfolio sources, it said in the statement.
“In the context of China’s ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, PetroChina International London and our parent company welcome the responsible policies taken by the EU to support the energy transition. We are pleased to enhance cooperation with European partners in green energy supply in the future,” the firm said.