‘Al-Nuaman’ at the Polish LNG receiving terminal in swinoujscie.
Qatargas has delivered the first commissioning liquefied natural gas cargo to Poland on its chartered Q-Flex vessel ‘Al-Nuaman’ at the Polish receiving terminal in swinoujscie.
PGNiG (Polish Oil & Gas) provided its assistance as an intermediary in the LNG delivery, according to the agreement with the Polskie LNG (Polish LNG), the receiver of the resource used for commissioning of the facility.
Al-Nuaman, carred 210,000 cu m of LNG.
Qatargas said the cargo was the first of the two planned that would be supplied by it for the “cool-down and commissioning of the Polish LNG Receiving Terminal. According to the current schedule, the second delivery is planned for February 2016.
During the grand ceremony marking the first LNG delivery to in Swinoujscie, Qatargas chief executive officer, Khalid bin Khalifa al-Thani said, “We are extremely delighted at this historic milestone and hope that our support in commissioning of this newly constructed LNG receiving terminal will in turn help to fuel sustainable economic growth and development throughout Poland, Eastern Europe and across all nations along the Baltic Sea basin. The Swinoujscie LNG receiving terminal is a clear manifestation of Poland’s vision and commitment to ensure diversified, reliable and secure supplies of LNG and natural gas.”
He said, “Poland represents a new market for Qatargas’ premium LNG and the delivery of LNG into Poland further demonstrates our commitment to provide Europe with a clean energy source, reliably and safely. This terminal will further expand LNG’s reach into Europe - first into Poland and thereafter as a gateway into the land-locked countries in central Europe as well as into the Baltic region. The Swinoujscie LNG terminal becomes the 17th LNG terminal that Qatargas provides deliveries and marks another significant milestone in Qatargas’ history. Qatargas is extremely proud to be associated with the Swinoujscie LNG terminal and with Poland.”
Waldemar W?jcik, vice-president, PGNiG management board, said, “LNG deliveries are one of the most important measures to diversify Poland’s gas supply sources and a crucial element of PGNiG’s strategy to diversify its supply portfolio. LNG imports will afford more flexibility in responding to market conditions, while improving Poland’s energy security. We are happy that LNG deliveries have started to arrive at the Swinoujscie terminal, hoping that the contract between PGNiG and Qatargas will mark the beginning of a long-term partnership between the two companies.”
The Swinoujscie terminal is designed to receive, regasify and deliver even 5.0 bcm of gas a year into the Polish transfer system. The project is now in the commissioning stage with commercial operation planned to take place in the second quarter of 2016.
PGNiG will receive the LNG deliveries based on the 20-year contract with which Qatargas will deliver 1mn tonnes of LNG to the receiving terminal in Swinoujscie annually.
