North Adriatic LNG Terminal, Italy

The North Adriatic LNG terminal (Isola di Porto Levante) will be a major import terminal positioned off the north-eastern coast of Italy – 17km offshore in 30m of water – between Venice and Punta della Maestra in Rovigo.

The terminal will provide the Italian gas market with LNG supplied from RasGas II train 4 in Qatar beginning in April 2008 (Italian consumption is projected to rise by 50% in the next decade).

Italy will be able to rely on the delivery of about 6.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year for 25 years.

The $900m terminal will receive LNG ships (145,000m³ in size) nine miles offshore every three days, and regasify and transmit gas to an onshore metering station where it will enter the Italian grid.

Adriatic LNG is an Italian company set up to build and operate the platform; it is owned by affiliates of Qatar Petroleum (45%), ExxonMobil (45%) and Edison SpA (10%). The Italian energy company Edison is 90% owned by ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum.

The reception terminal, which has been designed to receive up to six million tons of LNG per annum, consists of a Gravity Base Structure (GBS) which is a type of artificial island to be installed in shallow water and is the first of its kind in the world. Due to its size, (180m x 88m x 48m) the GBS must be constructed within a 'casting basin' or dry dock. Once the construction has been completed, the dock will be flooded and the caisson floated to its subsequent mooring in the Adriatic Sea.

CAPACITY FOR ITALIAN GAS MARKETS

A total of 80% of the terminal capacity (4.7mta of LNG) will be allocated to Edison for 25 years. Edison has signed a sale and purchase agreement with RasGas II covering this commitment. The remaining 20% of the capacity will be available to third-party users.

The Adriatic LNG platform is one of only two in the world currently being constructed. A second Italian project, involving the mooring of a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) off the coast of Livorno, is due to come on-stream at about the same time.

With the Adriatic LNG terminal, the Veneto Region and northern Italy will have a new energy facility that will benefit the economy of the country as a whole.

The construction of new LNG terminals in Italy has been declared of national interest by the programme drafted by the National Energy and Environment Conference organised by ENEA on behalf of the Government in 1998.

ADRIATIC LNG PLATFORM CONSTRUCTION

The project began in October 2003 and the major contractor for the GBS LNG terminal is Aker Kvaerner. Aker Kvaerner were awarded the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract worth $21m in January 2004 and were also awarded the contract to conduct detailed design and planning activities ($50m) in June 2004.

The concrete casing of the Adriatic LNG terminal is currently being constructed at the Aker Kvaerner yard in an existing dry dock in Campamento in the bay of Algeciras in the south of Spain. Arup in Spain is project managing and designing various aspects of the infrastructure. Arup Spain has entered into a framework agreement with its client Aker Kvaerner, and is carrying out various work activities under this agreement ranging from designing the infrastructure, civil works, site supervision of the deepening of the dry dock to advising on Spanish health and safety regulations, regulatory issues and negotiation with utility companies.

Acciona the Spanish engineering company is also working on the construction of certain aspects of the project. The GBS terminal is a concrete platform structure 180m long, 88m wide and almost 50m high. The deck of the GBS provides space for an accommodation block with 60 beds, utility systems such as power generators and 8,000t of process equipment for LNG regasification.

The structure will be equipped with berthing and mooring systems for unloading liquefied natural gas and can accommodate LNG carrier vessels with capacities up to 152 thousand cubic meters of LNG. Necso Madrid and Gleitz Salzburg are responsible for formwork engineering services on the platform.

THE STORAGE TANKS

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of South Korea completed the construction of two large LNG storage tanks for the new Adriatic LNG gravity-based structure in mid-2006.

Each of the rectangular tanks, which are made from 9% nickel steel, weighs 4,800t and has a capacity of 250,000m³. The tanks are protected with high-resistance concrete double walls with inert materials (sand) between the two walls. Skanska Whessoe Ltd of Darlington in the UK designed the tanks and subcontracted the $110m fabrication project to HHI.

HHI is utilising special barges to ship the tanks, each split into six modules, to Aker Kvaener yard in southern Spain where the GBS terminal is being built. On arrival, the tanks will be assembled and placed within the concrete casing of the GBS terminal.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE GAS?

The terminal will receive only two or three tankers a week and will transfer LNG into the two special tanks. The platform can then regasify the LNG as a controlled process.

After vaporisation on the terminal, the LNG will be sent to shore through a 30in (76cm) diameter natural gas pipeline laid under the seabed to avoid interfering with the environment and maritime activities.

The pipeline's landfall will be south of the Levante Po River mouth near Scanno Cavallari and will continue underground onshore to the metering station that connects it to the national grid.

Snamprogetti, an ENI affiliate, will be the contractor for the pipeline. An onshore logistics base along the Levante Po will provide support for the terminal's operations.

OFFLOADING GAS AT THE TERMINAL

FMC Technologies SA of France is responsible for the construction of the all-metal LNG offloading system for the project. All-metal marine loading arms have been designed and supplied to meet the operating requirements for LNG carriers exposed to wave conditions. The special offshore all metal loading system provides a viable solution for loading/unloading operations in exposed conditions without having to construct breakwaters.

Wave-induced motions of LNG carriers while at the terminal necessitate the use of a cable targeting system to ensure that operators are able to safely and reliably connect to and disconnect from the manifold flange. The targeting system was tested in full scale during the yard erection test and it was also evaluated during the comprehensive Failure Mode Effect and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) that was conducted prior to EPC.

UPSTREAM ENHANCEMENTS

Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil are making a number of upstream investments associated with the project. These include a wellhead platform with an expected seven wells, pipelines, a 4.7MTA LNG train at Ras Laffan City and five conventional LNG tankers to supply the new LNG terminal.