Exxon has inked a preliminary agreement with Germany Uniper for future LNG supplies to a new import terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Reuters reports, citing the German company.
The Wilhelmshaven project is Germany’s first LNG terminal. It will
consist of floating storage and regasification facilities and has already
attracted the interest of several LNG suppliers, including the United States
and Qatar. It will have a capacity of 10 billion cu m of natural gas annually.
Exxon has signed up for a portion of the regasification capacity
at Wilhelmshaven.
“The heads of agreement (a non-binding draft) is an important step
towards the realisation of the Wilhelmshaven floating storage and
regasification (FSRU) project,” Reuters quoted Uniper’s chief commercial
officer, Keith Martin, as saying. The official added that “The FSRU will
provide LNG companies from the United States, but also other countries from
around the world, with the opportunity to deliver LNG into the German and
European markets.”
The project will be financed and operated by Japanese Mitsui OSK
Lines, which Uniper contracted for the job last December.
The German energy major is at the same time member of the
consortium building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia, which has caused
opposition from the Baltic States and Poland, along with Ukraine on the grounds
more Russian gas coming into Europe will strengthen Moscow’s political
influence on the continent.
Washington officials have been vocal in their opposition as well,
citing European national security concerns, but their stance has been perceived
by some in European governments as a means of securing markets for growing U.S.
LNG supply.
Exxon is one of the biggest players
in this field, with stakes in various projects whose total capacity amounts to
more than 65 million tons of the fuel that is growing
increasingly popular, not just in Europe but in Asia as well.