MOL, Gas Sayago Forge Ties on World’s Largest FSRU

Japanese Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has reached a basic agreement with Gas Sayago, a joint venture between Uruguay’s state oil company ANCAP and state power company UTE, to continue the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) project led by Gas Sayago.

The government of Uruguay recently cancelled its contract with GNLS S.A., a 50-50 joint venture between ENGIE of France and Marubeni Corporation, and announced plans to continue the project by using MOL’s FSRU.

MOL also reached a basic agreement with Gas Sayago to go ahead with the project under the new project structure.

In October 2013, MOL signed a 20-year charter contract for an FSRU in the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, with GNLS, which was entrusted with the construction, ownership, and operation of the terminal project.

The company said that this is the first FSRU project in which MOL will solely build, own, and operate the facility.

The FSRU that will serve the project is under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., in South Korea. It will be equipped with the largest LNG storage tank (263,000m³) of any FSRU in the world, and is expected to arrive in Uruguay and be ready for service in mid-2017, MOL added.

The receiving terminal will be located four kilometers offshore off the Port of Montevideo, Uruguay, where FSRU will be moored on off shore jetty protected by breakwater. The FSRU will deliver natural gas ashore through high pressure arms located on the jetty head. The natural gas will be sent ashore via anž subsea pipeline.

The move comes as MOL anticipates continued growth in the FSRU field, and is aggressively seeking new opportunities.

FSRUs receive liquefied natural gas from LNG carriers, regasify it, and transmit it under high pressure to pipelines on land.

The technology reached the practical application stage in 2005, and projects are now underway all over the world as an effective solution to developing LNG terminals in less time and at lower expense than conventional land-based terminals.