Uchenna Izundu
International Editor
LONDON, Oct. 25 -- The LNG carrier Arctic Princess and its cargo of 145,000 cu m of LNG has left the Norwegian Hammerfest liquefaction plant and is on its way to southern Europe. The launch marks Europe's first LNG export.
The gas came from Snohvit field in the Norwegian Barents Sea, with the first gas volumes produced in August and first LNG, in September. "The LNG production from Snohvit is still undergoing a run-in phase," said project partner RWE Dea AG. Stable production is expected to begin by yearend.
Carbon dioxide, accounting for 5% of the Snohvit well stream, is separated and injected into a different underground formation. The project has cost a total of €6.5 billion. At full production, carriers will leave port at Melkoya every 5-6 days. Each ship will transport nearly 150,000 cu m of gas as LNG to customers worldwide.
Snohvit has been developed by a consortium consisting of operator StatoilHydro 33.53%, Petoro 30%, Total E&P Norge 18.4%, Gaz de France 12%, Hess Norge 3.26%, and RWE Dea 2.81%.
Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].