Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BRUSSELS196
2009-02-11 14:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Brussels
Cable title:
BELGIAN COMPANY EXMAR SEES OPPORTUNITIES IN GAS CRISIS
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UNCLAS BRUSSELS 000196
STATE FOR EUR/UBI AND EEB/ESC/SGALLOGLY
DOC FOR IEP/EUR/4121/PDACHER AND 4212/ITA/MAC/EUR/OECA/JLEVINE
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS/KBALLOU,DCOLUMBO, EROSSI
E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG EPET EU BE
SUBJECT: BELGIAN COMPANY EXMAR SEES OPPORTUNITIES IN GAS CRISIS
UNCLAS BRUSSELS 000196
STATE FOR EUR/UBI AND EEB/ESC/SGALLOGLY
DOC FOR IEP/EUR/4121/PDACHER AND 4212/ITA/MAC/EUR/OECA/JLEVINE
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS/KBALLOU,DCOLUMBO, EROSSI
E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG EPET EU BE
SUBJECT: BELGIAN COMPANY EXMAR SEES OPPORTUNITIES IN GAS CRISIS
1. During the regular natural gas disputes between Russia and some of its (former) client states that also affected Europe, Belgian gas supplies were never under threat. In 2008, Belgium imported only five percent of its gas supply from Russia, mainly thru the German-Russian Wingas group and the French GDF - Suez conglomerate. Another 27 percent of Belgium's gas came from the Netherlands, but the bulk of it arrived in Belgium's port of Zeebruges, either thru the Bacton gas interconnector pipeline (45 percent of all supplies, mainly from the U.K. and Norway),or thru the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal (11 percent, mainly from Qatar).
2. Such a diversification of suppliers also has its advantages in dealing with storing the gas, since Belgium has very limited storage capacity - the equivalent of 30 days' supply (compared to France, Germany and Italy, which have about 80 days' storage capacity). Apart from the gas storage facilities in Zeebruges, there is also an underground storage facility in the Antwerp Campine area, which is known to have vast underground water caverns in its clay soil. Some 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas (7.5 percent of Belgium's needs) can be stored there.
3. The Belgian Shipping group Exmar now thinks it may hold the key not only to further diversification of suppliers or storage issues, but also to the issue of gas pipelines that cross various critical borders, with liquefaction vessels that turn LNG back into gas, at off-shore locations, where it will be stored and then eventually pumped into existing natural gas pipelines. Exmar teamed up with the US company Excelerate Energy (50 percent of which was recently sold to the German RWE concern) in 2000, and the two companies plan to have 8 regasification vessels in all in operation by the end of 2010. The companies also venture into the design of FSLO (Floating Liquefaction, Storage and Offloading) vessels which will add a crucial element of flexibility into the current gas production and transportation market.
4. Exmar CEO Nicolas Savereys told Econoff recently that his company's solution has advantages not only for consumers, but also for the various owners of (offshore) gas fields. Very little infrastructure is needed on land, and there are virtually no 'not in my back yard' issues since most operations take place offshore on both the regasification and liquefaction vessels. Fluxys, the Belgian gas distributor, is currently in the process of contacting some 15 potential customers worldwide and hopes to obtain a new permit for mooring such vessels in Zeebruges soon. Exmar contacts told econoff that they hope their solution will be considered by the EU as a valid alternative or complement to projects such as the Nabucco and Southstream pipelines, which appear to be far more costly and time-consuming, as well as fraught with political uncertainties.
Bush
STATE FOR EUR/UBI AND EEB/ESC/SGALLOGLY
DOC FOR IEP/EUR/4121/PDACHER AND 4212/ITA/MAC/EUR/OECA/JLEVINE
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS/KBALLOU,DCOLUMBO, EROSSI
E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG EPET EU BE
SUBJECT: BELGIAN COMPANY EXMAR SEES OPPORTUNITIES IN GAS CRISIS
1. During the regular natural gas disputes between Russia and some of its (former) client states that also affected Europe, Belgian gas supplies were never under threat. In 2008, Belgium imported only five percent of its gas supply from Russia, mainly thru the German-Russian Wingas group and the French GDF - Suez conglomerate. Another 27 percent of Belgium's gas came from the Netherlands, but the bulk of it arrived in Belgium's port of Zeebruges, either thru the Bacton gas interconnector pipeline (45 percent of all supplies, mainly from the U.K. and Norway),or thru the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal (11 percent, mainly from Qatar).
2. Such a diversification of suppliers also has its advantages in dealing with storing the gas, since Belgium has very limited storage capacity - the equivalent of 30 days' supply (compared to France, Germany and Italy, which have about 80 days' storage capacity). Apart from the gas storage facilities in Zeebruges, there is also an underground storage facility in the Antwerp Campine area, which is known to have vast underground water caverns in its clay soil. Some 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas (7.5 percent of Belgium's needs) can be stored there.
3. The Belgian Shipping group Exmar now thinks it may hold the key not only to further diversification of suppliers or storage issues, but also to the issue of gas pipelines that cross various critical borders, with liquefaction vessels that turn LNG back into gas, at off-shore locations, where it will be stored and then eventually pumped into existing natural gas pipelines. Exmar teamed up with the US company Excelerate Energy (50 percent of which was recently sold to the German RWE concern) in 2000, and the two companies plan to have 8 regasification vessels in all in operation by the end of 2010. The companies also venture into the design of FSLO (Floating Liquefaction, Storage and Offloading) vessels which will add a crucial element of flexibility into the current gas production and transportation market.
4. Exmar CEO Nicolas Savereys told Econoff recently that his company's solution has advantages not only for consumers, but also for the various owners of (offshore) gas fields. Very little infrastructure is needed on land, and there are virtually no 'not in my back yard' issues since most operations take place offshore on both the regasification and liquefaction vessels. Fluxys, the Belgian gas distributor, is currently in the process of contacting some 15 potential customers worldwide and hopes to obtain a new permit for mooring such vessels in Zeebruges soon. Exmar contacts told econoff that they hope their solution will be considered by the EU as a valid alternative or complement to projects such as the Nabucco and Southstream pipelines, which appear to be far more costly and time-consuming, as well as fraught with political uncertainties.
Bush