Stolt-Nielsen eyes small-scale LNG carrier order

Norwegian-listed shipping company Stolt-Nielsen plans to order a number of 7,500-cbm LNG carriers to ship the chilled fuel for the Sardinia LNG import project in Italy.

Stolt-Nielsen’ unit, Stolt-Nielsen Gas, has last year bought a 10 percent stake, with an option to acquire up to 80 percent of HiGAS, the company developing the Italian LNG project

HIGAS is a joint venture between Gas and Heat S.p.A. and CPL Concordia Soc. Coop, formed to build and operate an LNG terminal and distribution facility in the port of Oristano, Sardinia.

The LNG is to be shipped to the terminal by small-scale LNG tankers and distributed to customers via pipeline and trucks.

Stolt-Nielsen has not yet signed a binding LNG offtake agreement for the project in Sardinia.

“We will not take any final investment decisions before we have a binding agreement on offtake… but we are getting close,” Niels Stolt-Nielsen, CEO of Stolt-Nielsen said in a conference call on Thursday after discussing the company’s quarterly results.

“Once we get the offtake in Sardinia, we will take the FID on building of the storage terminal and also order small-scale ships,” Stolt-Nielsen said.

The size of tanks and the number of ships required for the Italian LNG project have yet to be decided, he said, adding that it is “very attractive right now” to order newbuilds.

According to the CEO, the company is also working “quite actively” on another small-scale LNG project in Europe.

The shipping company plans to source the chilled fuel in “Antwerp or Rotterdam and supply it to the project,” Stolt-Nielsen said without providing more details.

LNG World News Staff