Qatar Delivers 1st Q-Flex Cargo to China's Zhoushan Terminal
Qatargas April 2 said it has delivered the first cargo of LNG on a Q-Flex vessel to the Chinese private sector gas distributior ENN’s Zhoushan LNG receiving terminal.
The delivery – and of a very large cargo size – suggests that China might be turning the corner: it has been in the headlines recently for invoking force majeure clauses and rejecting contractual deliveries. The Q-Flex class can hold about 215,000 m³.
The cargo aboard the Qatargas-chartered LNG vessel, Al Gharrafa, was loaded at Ras Laffan on March 16 and delivered to the terminal located in the New Port Industrial Park of Zhoushan Economic Development Zone on April 1.
This is the first cargo discharge operation by Qatargas to Zhoushan LNG terminal involving a Q-Flex LNG carrier, the company said. The terminal consists of two shore tanks, each having a capacity of 160,000 m3 and has a dedicated LNG berth with a capacity of 3mn metric tons/year in its first phase.
The Zhoushan LNG receiving terminal is the first large-scale privately-owned terminal approved by China's National Energy Administration. The terminal received its first cargo in August 2018.
ENN has LNG sales and purchase agreements with Chevron, Origin Energy and Total – only the latter is a long-term contractual lifter from Qatar.