Kuwait to Raise $3.3bn for LNG Project
Kuwait is mulling borrowing over $3.3bn from local and global banks to fund its onshore LNG project in the Al-Zour region, Al-Seyassah reported May 14.
Kuwait National Bank and the Kuwait Finance House have been asked by state-owned Kuwait Integrated Petrochemical Industries Company (Kipic) to manage the loan. The newspaper reported that an agreement is expected to signed latest by next month.
The Al-Zour LNG import terminal project includes the construction of a regasification facility, eight LNG storage tanks, and civil works for coastal facilities at Al-Zour, 90 kilometers south of Kuwait City. It will have capacity to import 22mn metric tons of LNG a year (30bn m3/yr). A South Korean consortium of Hyundai Engineering Company, Hyundai E&C and Kogas will be constructing the terminal.
Kuwait’s demand for gas has been rising and with lack of sufficient local supplies, the country is relying on imported LNG. Recently, state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) signed a long-term 15-year LNG deal under which the supplies were due to commence in 2020.
Kipic, a unit of KPC that is overseeing the LNG terminal's development, said in a March 2018 update that it was "ahead of schedule, with a progress rate of 30.31%, against planned progress of 29.35%" and therefore "likely to be completed by December 2020 with a commissioning period of seven months from July 2020 to February 2021."
Kuwait presently imports LNG via the 500mn ft3/d (5.2bn m3/yr) Excelerate-operated floating unit Mina Al-Ahmadi GasPort.