One Thousand Cargoes Shipped from Hammerfest LNG

Equinor has highlighted the 1,000th cargo shipped from the Hammerfest LNG plant in Norway. The cargo consists of 140,500 cubic meters of LNG shipped out on the Arctic Discoverer and destined for Spain. 

Total sales value of all the LNG cargoes since the from the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea came on stream in 2007 is in the range of NOK 130-150 billion ($16 billion). LPG and condensate from the Snøhvit field have also created considerable value.

Snøhvit is the first major development on the Norwegian continental shelf with no surface installations. The production facilities are located on the seabed, at depths of 250-345 meters. Gas from the field is conveyed in a 160 kilometer pipeline to the facility. Equinor was the operator during the development phase and now has operational responsibility for the facility. At the onshore facility, condensate, water and CO2 are separated from the well stream before the natural gas is cooled down to a liquid form and stored in dedicated tanks. 

A tanker is loaded every five days, and LPG and condensate are loaded around every third week. LNG, LPG and condensate are shipped to markets around the world.

“LNG is increasingly balancing regional gas markets and helps set the global gas prices. The recent development makes Europe a natural market for LNG from Melkøya. In addition, we have delivered some cargoes to other markets in the Atlantic Basin, such as Brazil,” says manager of LNG trading in Equinor, Anders Bjordal.

Equinor has four LNG tankers at its disposal, which can reach most of the market in the Atlantic Basin in 20 days, and the markets in Asia via the Suez Canal in 25-35 days.

In 2018 the global gas consumption was around 3,850 billion cubic meters (bcm), of which LNG covered around 11 percent. LNG accounts for more than a third of the international gas trade.