Equinor ready to load first Hammerfest LNG cargo since September 2020

Norway’s Equinor will soon load the first cargo at its 4.3 mtpa Hammerfest LNG export plant since a fire that broke out at the facility in September 2020.

Equinor closed the Hammerfest LNG plant on Melkoya island on September 28, 2020. The fire occurred in turbine 4.

Last week, an Equinor spokesperson told LNG Prime that the plant had resumed operations and started cool down, but it did not produce LNG to tanks.

“The first liquified natural gas (LNG) is now on tank at Melkoya,” Equinor said in a statement on Thursday.

There are three LNG tankers located in the vicinity of the plant, namely Arctic Voyager, Arctic Lady and Arctic Princess.

“Normally, it takes 4-5 days to fill the storage tanks at the plant, before the ships are loaded with LNG for shipping to receiving terminals in various markets,” Equinor said.

In full production, a ship carrying some 1 TW of energy would leave the LNG plant about every five days, it said.

Hammerfest LNG liquefies natural gas coming from the Snohvit field in the Barents Sea.

Gas reaches Hammerfest LNG via a 160-kilometer gas pipeline which became operational in the autumn of 2007.

Equinor is the operator of both the Snohvit field and Hammerfest LNG with a 36.8 percent stake.

Much-needed supplies for Europe

Prior to the incident, the facility supplied LNG mainly to terminals in Europe but also in Asia.

The restart of the plant comes at a time when European countries are looking to phase out Russian gas supplies.

LNG imports to Europe reached record highs this year and a big part of these additional supplies came from the US.

“With the start-up of Hammerfest LNG, we add further volume to the already substantial gas deliveries from Norway. This is of great significance in a period when predictable and reliable supplies are highly important to many countries and customers,” Irene Rummelhoff, Equinor’s executive VP for marketing, midstream and processing said in the statement.

Norway is an important gas supplier to Europe, and the volumes from Hammerfest LNG account for more than 5 percent of Norwegian gas exports.

During normal production Hammerfest LNG delivers around 6.5 billion cubic meters per year, equivalent to the annual gas demand of 6.5 million European households, Equinor said.

- Advertisements -

Most Popular

QatarEnergy picks shipowners for 18 giant LNG carriers

LNG giant QatarEnergy has selected shipowners to own and operate 18 Q-Max LNG carriers as part of its massive...

VTTI, IKAV to take majority stake in Italy’s Adriatic LNG terminal

Rotterdam-based storage terminal owner VTTI, co-owned by Vitol, IFM, and Adnoc, joined forces with German asset manager IKAV to...

Canada’s FortisBC, Seaspan win provincial approval for Tilbury LNG jetty

Canadian utility and operator of the Tilbury LNG facility in the province of British Columbia, FortisBC, and its partner...

More News Like This

Hafnia, CSSC Shipping take delivery of fourth LNG-fueled tanker in China

China’s Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) delivered the fourth and final LNG-powered LR2 tanker to a joint venture of compatriot...

Equinor seals 15-year LNG supply deal with India’s Deepak Fertilisers

Norway's Equinor and India's Deepak Fertilisers have signed a 15-year deal for supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with...

K Line charters third LNG-powered LCO2 carrier from Northern Lights JV

Japan’s shipping giant K Line has entered into a charter contract with Norway’s Northern Lights, a joint venture consisting...

Equinor to deliver reloaded cargo from Lithuania’s Klaipeda to Finland

Norwegian energy firm Equinor has reloaded a liquefied natural gas cargo at the KN Energies-operated FSRU-based terminal in Lithuania's...