Snam Buys Share in Italian LNG Terminal
Italian gas infrastructure group Snam has struck a deal to buy a 49.1% stake in the Offshore LNG Toscana (OLT) terminal in Italy from local utilities firm Iren Group.
Snam will pay €345mn ($379mn) for the share of the terminal, sited 22 km off the Tuscan coast between Livorno and Pisa, Snam said in a statement on September 20.
OLT is capable of regasifying up to 3.75bn m3 of gas annually, making it Italy’s second biggest LNG plant in operation, after the 8bn m³/yr Adriatic LNG gravity-based system. The facility earned €112mn in revenues and €65mn in Ebitda last year, according to Snam. Its capacity is fully booked for the 2019-2020 gas year, attributing this to lower international LNG prices and a new auction-based capacity allocation mechanism it launched in 2018.
“Snam’s entrance into OLT will guarantee industrial expertise in management and in future investments into vital infrastructure for the Italian energy system’s security and flexibility and will consolidate our position in the Mediterranean LNG market,” Snam CEO Marco Alvera commented.
Australia’s First State Investments holds a 48.2% stake in OLT, which it acquired from Germany’s Uniper earlier this year for around €400mn. International LNG shipper Golar LNG controls a further 2.7%.