Argentine energy company YPF has reached a preliminary agreement with the US-based LNG company Excelerate Energy to charter a second LNG carrier to transport Argentine LNG to the global market, reports Rigzone.
LNG supply to world market
Excelerate said that it’s carrier Excalibur will transport LNG from the Tango floating LNG (FLNG) unit located at the port of Bahia Blanca, Argentina, to the world market.
The company added that it will be executing the final agreement with YPF “in the coming days” and that operations should start in early September.
Vessel in service until May 2020
“We continue progressing in our ambition to add value to Argentine natural gas and to export surpluses during these months of low local consumption, to fully extract the potential as producer and exporter of Argentine natural gas,” Marcos Browne, executive vice president of Gas and Energy at YPF, said in a written statement distributed by Excelerate.
The majority of the natural gas processed by Tango FLNG will originate from Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale formation. After processing, it will be transported to the Excalibur LNG carrier for export.
Excelerate noted that loading YPF’s product onto Excalibur will take approximately 45 days and that the vessel will be in the service of YPF until May 2020.
First Argentine company to export LNG
“It is a milestone for us to partner with YPF in this activity by contributing all of our industry know-how in the transportation of Argentine natural gas to the world,” stated Gabriela Aguilar, Excelerate’s general manager in Argentina.
Excelerate pointed out that Excalibur is one of two ships that YPF will use to transport Argentine LNG to the world market. In May of this year, YPF commissioned its first cargo and became the first Argentine company to export LNG, Excelerate added.
Production of 500,000 tons LNG annually
According to Exmar, which owns Tango FLNG, the barge-based vessel will be deployed in Bahia Blanca for 10 years and produce 500,000 tons of LNG annually.
Argentina’s Southern Hemisphere location could represent a major advantage for the country’s LNG producers, offering seasonal flexibility for Asian utilities.
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Source: Rigzone
