Port of Rotterdam Authority and LionGas B.V. reach agreement on lease of LionGas Terminal location

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Dec 2008

The Port of Rotterdam Authority will invest 40 million euros to excavate the harbour basin for the LionGas Terminal and complete related activities. LionGas already received all required environmental and construction permits in 2006. The LionGas Terminal helps to secure the supply of natural gas to the Netherlands and Northwest Europe and supports Rotterdam’s position as a leading energy port.
The lease agreement relates to ‘De Kop van de Beer’ and ‘Het Stenenterrein’, two adjacent plots of land comprising a total area of approximately 25 hectares, and a harbour basin of approximately 20 hectares. The lease term is 50 years and includes an  option to further extend the lease after that period. LionGas also has the right of superficies to build on the land the LionGas Terminal and two jetties for LNG vessels. The ideal location at the port of Rotterdam and the proposed design for the LionGas Terminal guarantee customers access to a large part of the European gas market at very competitive costs. Considerable operational cost savings can also be achieved by integrating the terminal with the neighbouring industrial activities of Indorama and EnecoGen.
“The agreement with the Port of Rotterdam Authority is an important milestone in the development of the LionGas Terminal,” says Paul Q.J. van Poecke, Chief Executive Officer of 4Gas. “We are delighted with this agreement and are confident this will further contribute to the success of the LionGas project, which we see as an essential project of our global strategy.”
“The development of the LionGas Terminal further strengthens Rotterdam’s position as Europe’s most important energy port and the LNG port of entry for Northwest Europe,” explains Hans Smits, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
LionGas
The LionGas import terminal will be located near the entrance to the port of Rotterdam and will have an initial annual gas throughput capacity of 9 billion cubic metres per annum (“bcma”). The site is large enough and has the appropriate permits to accommodate 6 tanks with a nominal throughput capacity of 18 bcma.
In principle, every gas supplier or user can use the LionGas facilities. This open multi-user model benefits diversity and competition on the gas market.
 4Gas
4Gas is an independent company with a focus on the development and management of LNG import, regasification and storage terminals. It is the world’s only independent company fully focused on LNG and dedicated to develop a global network.
In addition to the Liongas project, 4Gas is currently actively developing the following projects: the Dragon project in Milford Haven, Wales; the Pegaz project in Le Verdon (near Bordeaux), France; the Maple LNG project in Nova Scotia, Canada; the Vista del Sol project near Corpus Christi, USA; the Mashal project near Karachi, Pakistan and a project in East Java, Indonesia. 4Gas has offices in Rotterdam, Houston, Halifax, Paris, Jakarta, Bordeaux, Karachi, Abuja and Hong Kong.

Source: Port Of Rotterdam