Qatar Terminal Limited and Fluxys LNG sign long-term agreement for Zeebrugge LNG terminal
Qatar Petroleum subsidiary Qatar Terminal Limited (QTL) and Fluxys Belgium subsidiary Fluxys LNG today signed a long-term LNG Services Agreement for the Zeebrugge LNG terminal. Under the agreement, QTL subscribes unloading slots at the facility from the expiry of the current long-term unloading contracts and up to 2044, the company said in its release.
The agreement was signed during a ceremony held in Brussels by His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, and Mr. Pascal De Buck, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Fluxys Belgium, in the presence of Her Excellency Marie-Christine Marghem, the Belgian Federal Minister of Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development.
The long-term LNG Services Agreement signed today is the outcome of a subscription window held from 30 April to 24 May 2019 for services at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal upon expiry, as from 2023, of the current long-term unloading contracts.
During the subscription window, the market was offered unloading slots and additional storage services at the facility over subsequent periods up to 2044. In late June, the Belgian Federal Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG) approved the accompanying tariff and LNG Services Agreement proposals, clearing the way for turning the binding interest obtained through the subscription window into a long-term LNG Services Agreement.
The Zeebrugge LNG Terminal in Belgium was commissioned in 1987. It has since developed, together with the Zeebrugge area as a whole, into a central crossroads for North-West Europe's gas network. Located at the point where a number of gas pipelines meet, the terminal plays a key role in Europe's natural gas supplies. The terminal currently has 380,000 cubic meters of LNG storage capacity spread over 4 tanks and an annual throughput capacity of 9 billion cubic meters of natural gas. A fifth 180,000 cubic meters storage tank is currently under construction.
