Repsol and Gas Natural JV Receives New LNG Tanker

Repsol YPF and Gas Natural’s midstream joint venture Stream has received the methane tanker Sestao-Knutsen, which will be used for the ocean transport of liquefied natural gas. The tanker will join the fleet of 11 methane tankers that the venture already operates.

The methane tanker, with 138,000 cubic meters of capacity, has been chartered through a time-charter contract for a period of 25 years that is extendable for consecutive five-year periods. It represents a joint investment of E161 million, which will be shared equally by the companies.

The addition of the ship to the fleet is claimed to be part of Gas Natural’s strategic plan to move towards vertical integration in the up and midstream areas. For Repsol, the delivery of the methane tanker further consolidates its position in the integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, which has been one of its main areas of growth.

In 2006, Stream commercialized 17.2 billion cubic meters of LNG and managed a total capacity of around 1.13 million cubic meters of gas.