AG&P signs contract to hire floating LNG terminal

LNG logistics company Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P) on Monday said it will hire a floating LNG terminal from Abu Dhabi's ADNOC Logistics and Services to set up India's first floating LNG import facility at Karaikal Port in Puducherry.

The two firms "signed an agreement for the conversion, supply, operations and maintenance of a floating storage unit (FSU) at AG&P's new LNG import facility located within Karaikal Port in Puducherry, India," the company said in a statement.

"The 137,756 cubic metre FSU owned by ADNOC L&S is being chartered for 15 years through an innovative commercial model enabling supply to be scaled to match demand. Construction on the terminal will begin in Q1 2020 (first quarter) with commercial operations expected to commence before the end of 2021," it said.

The Karaikal FSU will be only the 4th FSU-based LNG import terminal in the world, after those in Malta, Malaysia and Bahrain.

ADNOC L&S will provide a Japan-built Moss-type containment vessel as FSU for the project from its fleet of eight LNG ships.

"This agreement with Atlantic Gulf & Pacific is significant for ADNOC Logistics & Services in a number of ways," said Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO of ADNOC L&S. "Firstly, it represents our first agreement with AG&P and one of our company's most important goals is to find creative ways to branch out and find new partnerships around the world to fuel our company's safer, smarter growth. It is also an important agreement because it provides AG&P with additional storage flexibility for their LNG terminal as well as giving us the chance to generate more value from one of our historical assets which is coming to the end of its current contract."