Croatia pushes back 2nd bidding round for LNG terminal capacity

LNG Croatia, the state-owned company that is developing the country’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the island of Krk, said it has decided to move back the second round of bidding for the use of the planned terminal’s capacity.

LNG Croatia previously planned to start the second bidding round in May.

“Taking into account that potential users are still considering and studying new laws, regulations and other acts regulating the gas market, which are crucial for making long-term business decisions of this kind, LNG Croatia has decided to move the opening of the second round for submission of binding offers in the Open Season procedure for June 22nd 2018,” the company said.

By moving the opening of the second round of the procedure, users will have an additional time period for bid preparation, according to LNG Croatia.

This should lead to maximization of booked capacity and consequently in greater project competitiveness, greater security of supply in the region and lower total costs of all LNG infrastructure users, it said.

LNG Croatia noted that, during the first round, requests to participate in the binding phase of the process were received from potential bidders, who were not registered in the previous phase.

“In order to expand the number of potential users and thereby enable project competitiveness, new participants will be able to register, in line with the new deadlines presented in the rules for carrying out the binding phase of the Open Season procedure,” the company said.

Recent local media reports suggest that the company received only a few proposals during the first bidding round.

The reports also said that LNG Croatia has replaced its chief executive Goran Frančić with Barbara Dorić, who previously led Croatia’s Hydrocarbons Agency.

This was LNG Croatia’s third CEO change in the last year and a half, according to the reports.

The Krk LNG import project would be developed in two phases. The first phase includes setting up of a FSRU while the second phase entails the construction of a land-based LNG import facility, according to LNG Croatia.

The project would have an initial capacity of 2.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year.

The European Union has put the LNG terminal on its list of projects of common interest and will invest 101.4 million euros ($123.7m) in the development. The first phase of the LNG project is estimated to cost about 383.6 million euros.

LNG World News Staff