The first cargo of LNG from Nigeria LNG Ltd.'s Bonny Island liquefaction plant arrived at Gaz de France's Montoir de Bretagne terminal on Oct. 19.
The LNG Lagos carrier delivered the shipment, which is intended for Italy's ENEL. Under the terms of a contract signed between GdF and ENEL in 1997, over the next 20 years, GdF will receive at Montoir 3.5 billion cu m/year of natural gas to be purchased by ENEL from NLNG.
GdF will deliver to ENEL, through ENI affiliate Snam, equivalent quantities of Russian gas transiting Baumgarten, Austria, and Algerian LNG delivered by GdF to a terminal at Panigaglia, Italy. Beginning in 2001, when the first stage of the Les Marches du Nord-Est gas pipeline is completed, a portion of ENEL's gas supplies will be delivered by GdF at the Swiss border.
GdF, on its own behalf, signed a contract to buy 0.5 billion cu m/year of gas from NLNG starting in 1999 (see Watching the World, p. 31).
The start-up of these GdF and ENEL purchase contracts will generate additional traffic of 50-60 LNG carriers each year at Montoir, averaging an additional delivery per week. For this reason, GdF has renovated and expanded its terminal there.
With gas deliveries from Algeria, the Netherlands, Russia, Norway, and now Nigeria, GdF claims its supplies are among the most diverse in Europe.
By 2000, the French utility will also begin receiving gas from the UK North Sea. To this end, it has acquired a further 17.5% interest in Blocks 44/17 A and C from ARCO for 250 million francs. These blocks include the Errol and McAdam gas fields, yet to be developed. GdF already owned 17.5% of the blocks, which it had purchased from Ranger Oil Ltd.
GdF's North Sea assets now include: shares in Elgin and Franklin gas-condensate fields; stakes in Murdoch, Caister, and Boulton gas fields; and an interest in the associated transport systems (the Caister Murdoch System and the Edmond Transportation System).
So far, GdF can devote only 1 billion francs to upstream acquisitions. This is not enough if it intends to truly integrate its downstream and upstream assets, according to a report commissioned by French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin examining the gas liberalization law that is to be voted on in France. The report advocates turning GdF into a limited company (société anonyme) in which the merged TotalFina-Elf could take a stake.
