Construction Starts at Damerjog LNG Terminal in Djibouti

The construction of the Damerjog liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Djibouti officially started today with a groundbreaking ceremony held at the site, the Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority informed.

According to the operator and developer of the new terminal China’s POLY-GCL Petroleum Group Holdings Limited, a joint venture of China POLY Group and GCL Group, the phase one design capacity of the terminal is expected to handle 4 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, equivalent to 3 million tons of LNG per year.

Under the project plan, the USD 4 billion terminal is expected to have a capacity of 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, or around 10 million tons of LNG.

Once completed, LNG is envisaged to be shipped to China by 170,000 cubic meter LNG carriers, and the first cargo is expected to leave the facility in 2018.

The new terminal, which is a part of the USD 5 billion plan to develop regional trade ties, is designed to support carriers with storage capacities ranging from 30,000 cubic meters to 267,000 cubic meters, the developer informed.

As Djibouti aims to realize its expansion plans, the country may face some logistical constraints, such as the lack of a pipeline which would feed LNG and oil to neighboring countries, or strong currents off Goubet where the country planned to develop a port.

World Maritime News Staff