Gary Lakes, Editor: Dan Lalor
Nicosia — Cyprus's Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA) plans to finally sign a contract in October for the installation of an FSRU and relevant infrastructure, following closure of the tender on July 12, an official Cypriot source has informed S&P Global Platts.
In its fourth attempt to award a tender for the supply of natural gas, Defa opened a tender last year. It has extended the deadline several times since "to allow companies interested in bidding sufficient time to put together top-quality proposals so Defa has a better chance of success," the source said.
Last Tuesday, Defa invited expressions of interest for the supply of LNG for the FSRU, which will be connected to the country's main power station at Vassilikos.
"There are two processes in the EoI. One calls for expressions of interest in the LNG SPA, which will involve negotiations for mid-term, 3-5 year LNG SPAs. The second invites expressions of interest for master sales agreements that will enable Defa to procure cargoes from the spot market," the source said.
"The September 6 deadline relates to the SPA process, and includes the first lot of MSA suppliers. The MSA will last up to June 2023 and it will be assessed annually after each subsequent September 6," the source said.
"The first assessment starts September 6, 2019. Any company that submits an MSA after that date and before September 6, 2020, will be assessed in the next assessment period."
"That will last up to four years. Defa plans multiple MSA agreements that will lead to mini-tender each time it want to procure cargo from the spot market. Defa intends to arrange to have 15-20 MSAs available."
Last week, officials from Greece's Energean Oil & Gas were in Cyprus to discuss its proposal to deliver natural gas to Vassilikos by pipeline from Israel's Karish gas field by early 2021.
Cyprus's ministry of energy and Defa declined Energean's offer. The proposal was unsolicited and did not take into account Defa's planning for an LNG terminal, the source said.
"Defa [has] selected the FSRU solution and it has secured a Eur101 million grant ($114 million) from the European Union, which gives the project economic sense, more so than anything in the past," the source said.
SOURCE
In its fourth attempt to award a tender for the supply of natural gas, Defa opened a tender last year. It has extended the deadline several times since "to allow companies interested in bidding sufficient time to put together top-quality proposals so Defa has a better chance of success," the source said.
Last Tuesday, Defa invited expressions of interest for the supply of LNG for the FSRU, which will be connected to the country's main power station at Vassilikos.
"There are two processes in the EoI. One calls for expressions of interest in the LNG SPA, which will involve negotiations for mid-term, 3-5 year LNG SPAs. The second invites expressions of interest for master sales agreements that will enable Defa to procure cargoes from the spot market," the source said.
"The September 6 deadline relates to the SPA process, and includes the first lot of MSA suppliers. The MSA will last up to June 2023 and it will be assessed annually after each subsequent September 6," the source said.
"The first assessment starts September 6, 2019. Any company that submits an MSA after that date and before September 6, 2020, will be assessed in the next assessment period."
"That will last up to four years. Defa plans multiple MSA agreements that will lead to mini-tender each time it want to procure cargo from the spot market. Defa intends to arrange to have 15-20 MSAs available."
Last week, officials from Greece's Energean Oil & Gas were in Cyprus to discuss its proposal to deliver natural gas to Vassilikos by pipeline from Israel's Karish gas field by early 2021.
Cyprus's ministry of energy and Defa declined Energean's offer. The proposal was unsolicited and did not take into account Defa's planning for an LNG terminal, the source said.
"Defa [has] selected the FSRU solution and it has secured a Eur101 million grant ($114 million) from the European Union, which gives the project economic sense, more so than anything in the past," the source said.
SOURCE
