- Kpler explained to Insider that ships are stuck in Spanish waters due to their inability to unload LNG.
- Spain’s LNG storage tanks are rapidly filling up. Spain has Europe’s largest LNG terminal network.
- Europe has already imported greater amounts of LNG in 2022, than in all of 2021.
Europe is planning to import large quantities of liquefied gas (or LNG) in order to stockpile for a harsh winter. Russia slows natural gas importsThe continent. However, storage complications could hinder these efforts.
A situation currently brewing in Spain highlights the continent’s LNG — the supercooled version of natural gas that can be transported on ships over long distances — storage capacity problem.
Insider has learned that seven ships are currently resting in the Bay of Cadiz in Southwestern Spain as they wait for their unloading at the Huelva terminal.
Shipping data provider VesselsValue told Insider that one of the ships — an LNG tanker with the capacity to carry 174,000 billion cubic meters of fuel — has been waiting in the bay for about 33 days.
Enagas, Spain’s national natural gas grid operator, said in a Statement on MondayThere was a mismatch between supply and demand.
The statement — which was titled “declaration of exceptional operating situation” — said there were “very high levels of stocks” at all its LNG terminals and that this was expected to impact operations at least until the first week of November.
Insider understands that all ships who have booked a time slot to unload LNG will still be able to do it, although there could be delays.
Viktor Katona from Kpler, an energy analyst, stated that Spain’s ships are being discussed in energy circles.
That’s because Spain has Europe’s largest network for six LNG regasification terminals — facilities that turn the liquefied fuel back to gas — said Katona. He said that Spain could reach its maximum capacity if it has enough ships in Europe’s major LNG countries like France, the UK and the Netherlands.
Europe has already imported about 192 million cubic meters of LNG so far in 2022 — 25% more than it imported in the whole of 2021, according to Kpler data.
Enagas, in its Monday statement, stated that the supply-demand mismatch is not isolated to Spain’s gas system. However, it is also repeated in other countries.
Enagas declined comment.
