Traffic booming at Greek LNG terminal
Demand for the services of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the island of Revithoussa has really surged as European countries are rushing to make up for natural gas shortages and increase reserves ahead of winter.
The facility, on a small island off the coast of Attica, does not cater just to Greece’s needs. Several importers are vying for space at the terminal in order to sell the gas to countries such as Bulgaria and Romania. Competition has further heated up ahead of the opening of bids by the National Natural Gas System Operator (DESFA) for the LNG supplies that will be used as reserves in 2023.
In August, 15 LNG loads were dropped at Revithoussa, compared to just three in August 2021. There are 13 more coming in September and another six in October. The latter, however, exceed September’s in volume.
DESFA’s revised 2022 procurement scheduled has emphasized exports: From the 28 loads in August and September, seven were, or will be, transported by Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz and Hungary’s MET, while, in October, Austria’s OMV will make its appearance, with a huge load equivalent to 1 million megawatt-hours.
Among domestic importers, Mytilineos steadily leads by volume, while smaller loads are carried by Elpedison, public gas company DEPA, the Public Power Corporation and Motor Oil.
Traffic is expected to be boosted in October, with the new floating storage unit (FSU) entering service.
In the first half of 2022, the Revithoussa facility covered 44% of Greece’s natural gas imports and exports rose 134.33%. As in 2021, most of the LNG has been imported from the United States; the US accounted for 58.94% of the 16.61 terawatt-hours of supplies in the first half, followed by Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and Oman.
