Repsol Delivers its First Cargo from the Peru LNG Plant

Repsol has delivered its first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) shipment, onto the Barcelona Knutsen Tanker, from the Pampa plant Melchorita (Peru) which was officially inaugurated on June 10th.

This shipment marks the start of Repsol’s exclusive-rights contract to market the entire output of the plant, in accordance with the agreement signed with Peru LNG in 2005 for a term of 18 years from the start of commercial operations.

In terms of volume, this will be the biggest LNG acquisition ever made by Repsol.

Additionally, Repsol has an LNG supply contract with the Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE), Mexico for the natural gas terminal at Puerto de Manzanillo, on the Mexican Pacific coast.

This contract envisages the supply of LNG to the Mexican plant for a period of 15 years and with a volume of at least 67 bcm, which is due to be operative during the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Manzanillo plant, which will supply power plants of the Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE) in West Central Mexico, will source the gas from the Peru LNG plant.

The Barcelona Knutsen Carrier, with a capacity of 173,400m3, is heading for the Costa Azul energy terminal in Ensenada (Baja California), Mexico with its first LNG delivery.

The Carrier, which was delivered last April to Repsol, is the first of six vessels assigned to the Peru LNG project (four of which are long term, two short/medium term).

The plant, with a nominal capacity of 4.4 million tons per year, will process 17 million cubic feet of gas per day, equivalent to 15% of the annual gas consumption in Spain.

It has the two largest storage tanks in Peru (each holding 130,000 m3 of LNG) and a marine terminal that stretches more than a kilometre in length, able to receive carriers with a capacity of between 90,000 m3 and 173,000 m3.

The natural gas supply comes from the Camisea gas field, in which Repsol also has a 10% stake, and is fed through a 408-kilometre gas pipeline built as part of the Peru LNG project.

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Source: Repsol, June 25, 2010;