Jordan’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal near the city of Aqaba will open on 25th of May, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority has announced.
The facility is fully operational, after upgrades that reduced unloading time by 50%, the authority said.
The first LNG cargo will be shipped via a new specialised terminal completed by its investment arm Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), The Jordan Times reported.
According to the corporation’s Chief Executive Officer Ghassan Ghanem, the development of the facility is part of a 1.4bn port development master plan for the years 2005-2030, which is now at its “peak period”.
ADC’s top executive said the LNG terminal was built to replace costly heavy oil imports with liquefied gas used for generating electricity.
The gas will be supplied by Shell in LNG carriers from Qatar. On arrival at the LNG terminal, the LNG carrier will berth alongside the FSRU and will discharge its cargo of LNG into the unit.
The LNG will be repressurised into natural gas and delivered via the LNG jetty’s high pressure loading arms into the Terminal pipework infrastructure and through the gas metering system on its way to the FAJR transmission pipeline.
The Aqaba terminal is one of four energy ports, including the oil terminal, while the third is the liquefied propane gas terminal, dedicated to receive shipments of gas used in cylinder for cooking and heating purposes.
Another miscellaneous liquids terminal project is also in the pipeline, with tender expected to be ready by Q3, according to the official, who said that the port will include 30 lines to carry the liquids to “tanks farms” for storage.
