Ukraine Seeking for Danube-Based LNG Terminal Prospects

24 Окт

Ukraine looks for reviving the project of building the country’s first LNG terminal in Odessa region. Geopolitical barriers hindered it so far.

At the BNEF (Bloomberg New Energy Finance) London summit of October 21-22, 2019 Ms Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska, ex MP, Adviser on Energy, National and International Security, Geopolitics, Investments, Strategy, Ukrainian Institute for the Future, floored in the plenary Taps On Taps Off: What are the Investment Risks and Opportunities in European Gas?

The main idea of the plenary was as follows: 2019 is expected to be a pivotal year for natural gas and LNG. Oversupplied markets have brought prices down and might even force suppliers to cut down supply. Over the coming years however we expect demand to grow and supply barely keep pace. In the shorter term this may be compounded by the trilateral negotiations on the Ukraine transit deal which are reaching a critical point leaving organizations – and countries – potentially exposed. Will a deal be done? What supply options have countries and companies got if it isn’t? And what investment risks and opportunities are there in the European gas market?

Nataliya Katser-Buchkovska in the margins of the summit confided that talks with investors and foreign companies go on.

A terminal based on the FSRU (Floating Storage Regasification Unit) would be situated at the Danube port Reni i.e. in the south west of Ukraine at the border of Moldova.

She added that the terminal’s first phase is going to have capacities of up to 2Bn with the possibility to enlarge up to 6Bn cu.m per annum.

Ukraine may also export the regasified LNG at the adjacent markets including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova, using the existing routes of the Russian gas delivery into the EU. Most optimistically, this Ukrainian terminal will be put in operation not earlier than 2025.

The main problem remains the route the vessels might reach the port by, inasmuch as they would have to transit the Bosporus and, consequently, enter the Turkish EEZ (exclusive economic zone). The latest juxtaposition of the RF and Turkey has played another obstacle for Ukraine towards this route. Ms Katser-Buchkovska reported to the BNEF audience that Ukrainian diplomats are engaged with this problem.

Kyiv had initially considered a possibility of establishing FSRU in Pivdenny port in the Odessa bay in 2010 due to be put in operation in 2016, yet the geopolitical restrictions in the Bosporus Strait and absence of interest by investors hampered this work to be continued.

https://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/620298.html
https://about.bnef.com/summit/london/