Qatar Petroleum has signed an agreement with Fluxys to book the full capacity of the Zeebrugge LNG Terminal up to 2044.
The transaction follows a competitive evaluation process as well as the approval of the Belgian regulators.
Qatar Petroleum's Qatar Terminal Limited (QTL) is already a party to an existing agreement under which about half of the terminal’s capacity is used for delivery of Qatari LNG into Belgium under long-term LNG agreements.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, commented: ‘We believe this arrangement will further support our customers in Belgium and Europe in general, by providing access to reliable LNG supplies from Qatar and allowing our customers to maximize the utilisation of such supplies.’
Pascal De Buck, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Fluxys Belgium, added: ‘This agreement further extends our long-standing cooperation with our Qatari partners, secures long-term activity at the Zeebrugge terminal and further strengthens the facility’s position as a versatile LNG gateway into Europe offering customers optimum destination flexibility. Ample pipe gas take away capacity from the terminal is readily available for delivery throughout North-West Europe as well as a range of options for downstream small-scale LNG distribution.’
Marie Christine Marghem, Belgium’s Energy Minister, said: ‘I am glad that our two countries have been able to develop a close and successful cooperation in this matter. Qatar is the only gas producing country with long-term contracts for imports of LNG into North West Europe. Approximately 15% of our gas consumption comes from Qatar. This also demonstrates the solidity of our partnership. I will ensure that we will continue to enhance our mutual confidence and relationship for the successful cooperation between our two countries.’
The Zeebrugge LNG Terminal currently has 380,000 cubic metres (cbm) of LNG storage capacity spread over four tanks and an annual throughput capacity of nine billion cubic metres (cbm) of natural gas. A fifth 180,000 cbm storage tank is currently under construction.
