Italy to build gas terminals

Italy and Qatar could jointly build up to 10 new terminals to supply natural gas from the Gulf nation to the European country, the Italian minister of productive activities announced here on Sunday.

Italy's minister for productive activities Claudio Scaiola and his Qatari counterpart, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Ahmad Al Thani, minister of economy and commerce, met here on Sunday to enhance co-operation between the two countries in the energy sector.

The meeting follows last week's signing of an agreement for the construction of the first joint gas terminal off the Venice coast.

"The two countries are keen on pursuing co-operation in the energy sector... There is a plan to build an additional 10 gas terminals in our country… The offshore natural gas terminal of Porto Levante has opened the way for further co-operation between the two countries on these projects," Scaiola told Gulf News.

He said Qatar's natural gas offers a valid energy alternative [to hydrocarbons] at reasonable cost. "Italy and Europe need a clean source of energy at affordable cost… we have to speed up the plans for the construction of more terminals."

Last Monday, Qatar Petroleum (QP), ExxonMobil and Edison, Italy's second-biggest power company, announced they would jointly build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal with a re-gasification capacity of eight billion cubic metres a year.

The terminal's production would meet about 10 per cent of national demand.

The gas for the project will be sourced from Qatar's North Field, which has recoverable reserves of more than 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, said a QP press statement.

The Isola di Porto Levante LNG terminal will be located in the north Adriatic Sea off the Venice coast. The $900 million contract for the terminal's construction was awarded to Norway's Aker Kvaerner. The offshore terminal will be operational by the end of 2007.

RasGas vice-chairman and economic adviser to the Emiri Diwan, Ebrahim B. Ebrahim, said earlier that by investing in the Adriatic terminal Qatar had created an "entry point to Northern Europe".

The terminal's gas supplies would also hot up competition between Edison and Enel, Italy's major energy and gas supplier, helping curb prices.

As a result of the agreement, QP and ExxonMobil have acquired 90 per cent of Edison LNG and the latter will have access to about 80 per cent of the terminal capacity for 25 years to process LNG imported under the RasGas (II)-Edison Sales and Purchase Agreement.

The remaining 20 per cent will be available to users through regular transparent procedures.

QP and ExxonMobil have also announced a number of upstream investments associated with the project, including a wellhead platform with an expected seven wells, pipelines, a 4.7 MTA LNG train at Ras Laffan City and five conventional LNG tankers to supply the terminal.

The terminal will be equipped with a berthing/ mooring system for product unloading, designed to accommodate ships delivering up to 152,000 cubic metres of LNG.

Blueprint drawn to increase co-operation

• Qatar and Italy's joint ministerial committee on Sunday signed an MoU defining plans for cooperation in several fields.
• Italy's minister for productive activities, Claudio Scaiola, said the two countries are committed to co-operation in energy, infrastructure, tourism and other sectors.
• The Qatari Emir will pay an official visit to Italy in July.