Spain's Enagas Buys More LNG Assets

Spanish gas grid operator Enagas said June 30 it has agreed to raise its stake in the Sagunto LNG terminal to 72.5% and in the Chilean Quintero LNG terminal to 60.4%.

Enagas is buying a 42.5% stake from Union Fenosa Gas (UFG) in the southeast Spanish terminal at Sagunto for €106mn, subject to regulatory and other approvals. Osaka Gas 20% and Oman Oil 7.5% will retain their stakes. UFG is a 50-50 joint venture of Eni and Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa (GNF).

GasLog Shanghai on June 11 delivered the first US shale LNG cargo to Chile at its Quintero terminal. Chilean energy minister Maximo Pacheco is shown here in the foreground (Photo credit: GNL Quintero)

In Chile, Enagas already held 20.4% in the Quintero terminal. On June 9 it agreed to buy a further 20% interest from Endesa Chile for $200mn. Now Enagas has agreed to buy out a further 20% from a GNF-controlled company, also for $200mn. Both deals are subject to pre-emption.

An LNG tanker near the jetty at the Sagunto LNG terminal (Photo credit: operator Saggas)

In early 2015, Enagas bought a 30% stake in both Sagunto and the Bilbao LNG terminals from Deutsche Bank fund RREEF – that deal meant Enagas for the first time had stakes in all six operating Spanish LNG terminals, except for Reganosa in northwest Spain. It already owned terminals in Barcelona, Cartagena and Huelva outright.

Enagas also has one mothballed terminal in northern Spain at Gijon and a company in the Canary Islands called Gascan that is looking to develop two small regasification plants there.

Enagas has awarded Amec Foster Wheeler a contract for a study into revamping its Gaviota underground gas storage plant in northern Spain. No value was disclosed. The study, to be completed this year, follows several jobs by AmecFW for Enagas in Spain and Mexico over the past 22 years.

Mark Smedley |  www.naturalgaseurope.com