The Adriatic LNG terminal is a

liquid natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

offshore Offshore may refer to: Science and technology * Offshore (hydrocarbons) * Offshore construction, construction out at sea * Offshore drilling, discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater through drilling a well * Off ...

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

, formally known as Terminale GNL Adriatico Srl. Located in the northern

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

offshore of Porto Levante,

Porto Viro Porto Viro, or Taglio di Porto is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about south of Venice and about east of Rovigo. It was first created during the Fascist era, but subsequently dissolved. ...

, near

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, it is the world's first offshore

gravity-based structure A gravity-based structure (GBS) is a support structure held in place by gravity, most notably offshore oil platforms. These structures are often constructed in fjords due to their protected area and sufficient depth. Offshore oil platforms Pri ...

LNG regasification Regasification is a process of converting liquefied natural gas (LNG) at −162 °C (−260 °F) temperature back to natural gas at atmospheric temperature. LNG gasification plants can be located on land as well as on floating barges, i.e. a Float ...

terminal. The terminal is operated by

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

(70%), Qatar Terminal Ltd., a subsidiary of

QatarEnergy QatarEnergy ( ar, قطر للطاقة), formerly Qatar Petroleum (QP), is a state owned petroleum company of Qatar. The company operates all oil and gas activities in Qatar, including exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage. The ...

(23%), and

Snam Snam S.p.A. is an Italian energy infrastructure company. As of 31 December 2019, it had a market capitalization of €15.4 billion. Snam was originally a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni. It has since become an independent company, who ...

(7%).

Construction

The terminal facility was built in Campamento, parish of

San Roque, Spain San Roque is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is also part of the of Campo de Gibraltar. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, San Roqu ...

, then towed to Porto Levante, Italy. Construction started in October 2003 and finished in August 2008. The LNG tanks "rings" were constructed in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and they were assembled in Spain. The pipeline that connects to the terminal is located south of the Levante

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ligurian language (ancient), Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira (river), Mair ...

mouth near Scanno Cavallari.

Moving

After construction was completed in Campamento, the rig was towed by four tugboats to its current location off the coast of Rovigo. The flotilla traveled the in 16 days to reach the site. It traveled at an average speed of . When it arrived, the terminal was weighted down by water to ensure it was permanently positioned on the seabed.

Operations

Operations started in the mid of 2009. It received its first cargo on 11 August 2009. When fully operational, it stores and regasifies of natural gas per year, enough to meet 10% of Italy's natural gas needs. name=ogj110809> The terminal receives a

LNG carrier An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). History The first LNG carrier ''Methane Pioneer'' () carrying , classed by Bureau Veritas, left the Calcasieu River on the Louisiana Gulf coast on 25 January ...

every three days from

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. The gas is then regasified and sent to the Italian gas network by a pipeline from the terminal to the coast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adriatic Lng Terminal Liquefied natural gas terminals Energy infrastructure in Italy Natural gas in Italy