Baku, Azerbaijan, April 26
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
The construction of an LNG regasification terminal will be launched with SOCAR Trading’s involvement (marketing arm of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR) in Cote d'Ivoire in late 2017, Togrul Kocharli, head of the project development and investment department of SOCAR Trading, said.
Kocharli made the remarks during the conference titled “The 2nd SOCAR International Caspian and Central Asia Downstream Forum – Trading, Logistics, Refining, Petrochemicals” in Baku Apr. 26.
Kocharli stressed that the LNG complex was officially opened in Malta on April 24.
"As part of this project, we built a regasification unit that converts liquefied gas back into natural gas,” he added. “We built a power plant with a capacity of 210 megawatt, which will allow meeting up to 40 percent of Malta’s electricity demand."
“Moreover, SOCAR Trading guaranteed the same price for gas and electricity during five years under a contract signed for a period of 18 years," Kocharli said.
Kocharli said that currently about a quarter of the world's energy needs account for natural gas and 10 percent - for liquefied gas.
"The LNG market began to grow especially after LNG was exported from the US and Australia," Kocharli added.
ElectroGas Malta Consortium, where SOCAR is represented with a 20-percent share by its marketing arm SOCAR Trading, was established to implement the combined cycle gas fired power plant project in Malta.
Other shareholders are German Siemens Project Ventures GmbH and GEM Holdings Ltd, which is a joint venture of Maltese companies. SOCAR Trading is represented in the project as a supplier of LNG (8-10 batches per year), a floating liquid natural gas storage unit and equipment for its processing. The first LNG batch was supplied to Malta in January 2017.
The plant’s construction costs 175 million euros.
SOCAR Trading was established in Geneva in December 2007. Its activities cover the US and countries in Europe and Asia.