The Transinvestservis stevedoring company (TIS) intends to implement a project involving construction of an LNG terminal in the Odessa region, the company’s General Director Andrii Stavnytser said in an interview with the LigaBiznesInform publication.
"We can provide Ukraine 5 billion cubic meters of gas per year fairly quickly and fairly cheaply through regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Our project is radically different from the project that the government (represented by Derzhinvestproekt agency) previously planned to implement. It does not provide for construction of onshore infrastructure, i.e. it will not be necessary to build a warehouse and other expensive onshore facilities, as is the case with Derzhinvestproekt’s project. Ours is simpler, quicker, and cheaper. TIS has already signed a memorandum with the supplier of the floating gasifier, and it is ready to deliver the terminal to Ukraine as soon as possible,” said Stavnytser.
According to him, the project will cost USD 60-65 million, and its implementation is expected to be financed entirely with private investment. Stavnytser said that the gas pipeline that will connect the port with major high-pressure gas pipelines located just seven kilometers from the berth where the floating LNG terminal will be located is already being laid.
"Our partner in the project is Odessagaz, a private gas supply company," said Stavnytser. According to him, the partners in the project will generate revenue only from provision of services involving transshipment and transit of gas to major pipeline networks while the Naftogaz of Ukraine state oil and gas company should trade and buy gas.
The project needs the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Energy and the Coal Industry before it can begin. After that, according to Stavnytser, there are two options for implementation of the project: over a period of four months and over a period of 16 months (he did not explain the radical difference between the two options).
So far, only a memorandum of TIS’ intention to build the LNG terminal has been signed with Naftogaz of Ukraine. "But we need a contract for reservation of the capacity that will ensure utilization of the terminal’s capacity," the head of TIS said, adding that 5 billion cubic meters of gas constitutes almost 20% of the total volume of gas that Ukraine needs to import.
The gas is expected to be supplied to the terminal by Algeria, Tunisia, Qatar, and, in the long term, possibly the United States. The estimated price is currently USD 290-360 per thousand cubic meters, taking into account delivery, regasification, and supply into the system.
