Cotonou FSRU
| Part of the Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project. |
Cotonou FSRU is a cancelled (inferred 4 y) LNG import terminal in Benin.
Location
Table 1: Location details
| Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Cotonou FSRU | Contonou, Benin[1] | 6.346, 2.429 (approximate) |
The map below shows the approximate location of the terminal:
Project Details
Table 2: Infrastructure details
| Name | Facility type | Status | Capacity | Total terminal capacity | Offshore | Associated infrastructure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotonou FSRU | import[1] | cancelled (inferred 4 y) | – | – | True | – |
Table 3: Cost
| Name | Facility type | Cost | Total known terminal costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotonou FSRU | import[1] | – | – |
Financing
No financing data available.
Table 4: Project timeline
| Name | Facility type | Status | Proposal year | FID year | Construction year | Operating year | Inactive year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotonou FSRU | import[1] | cancelled (inferred 4 y) | 2012[1] | – | – | – | 2019 (cancelled) |
Ownership
Table 5: Ownership
| Name | Facility type | Status | Owners | Parent companies | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotonou FSRU | import[1] | cancelled (inferred 4 y) | SOCAR Trading; Gasol[1][1] | Gasol; State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic | – |
Background
In December 2012, the London-headquartered West African energy company Gasol announced a partnership with SOCAR, the Azerbaijani state-owned oil company, to build a floating LNG storage and regasification unit in the harbor of Cotonou, Benin's largest city.[2][3]
The motivation for the project was complex and centered on Gasol's goal of marketing natural gas to West African countries. While Gasol hoped to commercialize natural gas that is currently being offgassed by Nigerian oil producers, that gas production was not expected to materialize for a number of years. The West African Gas Pipeline, connecting Nigeria with Benin, Togo, and Ghana, and operated by Chevron, was hypothetically completed in 2006, but the pipeline had problems with technical malfunctions and international disagreements since then.[4][5] Gasol's goal in constructing the Cotonou FSRU was to provide a stopgap source of gas to Benin, Togo, and Ghana, via the West African Gas Pipeline, until Nigerian gas production was able to increase. Gasol aimed to market the gas to power producers, who would use it to replace diesel oil for electricity production, as well as to industrial customers.[6][7]
Also in 2012, Gasol partnered with Société BenGaz, a Beninese company run by a prominent national politician. In February 2014, the President of Benin gave an initial green light to the project. In June 2015, after a year of negotiations, Benin's energy ministry gave Gasol permission to conduct detailed studies on the project.[8]
There have been no updates on the project since mid-2015 and the project is presumed to be cancelled as of 2019. Gasol's website, as of June 2017, had also not been updated since then.
In 2019, a similar project was proposed by Total S.A. and the Republic of Benin called Benin FSRU.
Articles and Resources
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of LNG terminals, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 https://www.offshore-mag.com/business-briefs/company-news/article/16785313/socar-gasol-team-for-benin-fsru.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ Gasol forms alliance with Socar for West Africa LNG project, Platts, 20 Dec. 2012.
- ↑ Cotonou Lng Import Terminal, A Barrel Full, accessed June 2017.
- ↑ WAGP remains unsteady, Africa Energy Intelligence, 10 July 2014.
- ↑ West Africa gas pipeline cuts supply to Ghana over unpaid bills, Reuters, 21 June 2016.
- ↑ Annual Report and Accounts, Gasol plc, 2012.
- ↑ Benin LNG Import Project, Gasol website, accessed June 2017.
- ↑ Gasol's gas import project starts gaining traction, Africa Energy Intelligence, 30 June 2015.
