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Francesca Landini News

12 Jan 2024

Saipem Barred from Public Contracts in Brazil for 2 Years

(File photo: Saipem)

The Brazilian administrative authority has suspended Italy's Saipem and its subsidiary Saipem do Brasil from contracting with the country's public administration for two years, the engineering and construction group said on Friday.The decision stems from the final ruling in the administrative proceedings initiated against the companies in relation to alleged irregularities in the award of a gas pipeline contract in 2011.The sanction has no impact on ongoing projects in Brazil, Saipem said, adding it would appeal the decision.In November, the Italian company said it had won two offshore contrac

12 Dec 2023

Yemen's Houthis Claim Missile Attack on Norwegian Tanker

Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they hit a Norwegian commercial tanker with a missile in their latest protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, underlining the risks of a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.The Iran-aligned group attacked the tanker, the Strinda, because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea said in a statement.But the tanker's owner, Norway's Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said the vessel was headed to Italy with a cargo of biofuel feedstock, not crude oil.

04 Dec 2023

Snam Finalizes Purchase of FSRU for Ravenna

Snam headquarters in San Donato Milanese, Italy (Photo: Snam)

Snam has finalized the 400 million euro acquisition of a new floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal that will be located offshore from the city of Ravenna, the Italian gas grid operator said on Monday.The new ship dubbed BW Singapore has a storage capacity of about 170,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas and a regasification capacity of about 5 billion cubic meters per year and will help Italy to diversify its energy supplies.The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) is expected to start operations in 2025.That will follow the conclusion of the related permitting and reg

16 Nov 2023

Venezuela's PDVSA Offers Corocoro Crude Cargo through Intermediary

Credit: JosIsaac/AdobeStock

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA is offering to sell up to 1 million barrels of Corocoro crude through an intermediary, sources said on Wednesday, which could become the first sale of that grade in two years.Since Washington temporarily eased oil sanctions on the country last month, PDVSA has been allocating spot cargoes of crude and fuel oil through little known firms that contract with trading companies, which ultimately deliver to refiners. PDVSA and Italy's Eni ENI.MI…

14 Nov 2023

Snam to Invest in Ravenna FSRU

Stefano Venier courtesy of Snam

Italian gas grid operator Snam will invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in a new LNG offshore terminal near Ravenna, the company's CEO said on Tuesday.The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will add to another LNG terminal already set up in Tuscany, increasing Italy's gas import capacity and reducing dependence from its traditional suppliers, including Russia."To increase energy security for Italy we decided last year, together with the government, to increase the country's LNG import capacity in order to have more flexibility and diversify energy supplies…

04 Oct 2023

Exxon Mobil Finds Buyer for Adriatic LNG Terminal Stake

Credit: Adriatic LNG

Exxon Mobil Corp chose BlackRock as the potential buyer for its majority stake in Italy's main liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, the U.S. oil producer said in a statement.The stake sale drew interest from infrastructure funds and international groups as Italy is expected to increase its LNG imports to partly replace the gas it used to get via pipeline from Russia.In March, Exxon said it was considering selling its 70.68% interest in the offshore Adriatic LNG Terminal…

29 May 2023

Four Bidders Vie For Stake in Exxon LNG Terminal Offshore Italy - Sources

Adriatic LNG / Credit: Floydrosebridge/Wikimedia Commons  - CC BY-SA 3.0

Four international groups are competing to buy Exxon Mobil Corp's majority stake in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal offshore Italy, two sources familiar with the matter said. The deal could value the entire LNG terminal at around 800 million euros ($881 million), the sources said. Exxon said in March it was considering selling its majority stake in Adriatic LNG, Italy's main regasification terminal, as part of a wider strategy to divest non-core assets. The U.S. group is being advised by Rothschild & Co. on the process.

05 May 2023

Italy New LNG Terminal to be Operational at End-month

FRSU Golar Tundra moored at the port of Piombino. (Photo: Snam)

The new floating terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) set up in the Tuscan port of Piombino will start its commercial operations at the end of this month, the CEO of Italy's gas grid operator Snam said on Friday.The terminal will make available around 2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas this year and around 5 bcm next year said Snam's Stefano Venier at a press conference to mark the arrival of the first LNG tanker in Piombino."This ship is a great service to the country," Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said at the same event.The expansion is part of the Italian government's

16 Mar 2023

Exxon Considers Selling Stake in LNG Terminal Offshore Italy

©Terminale GNL Adriatico

Exxon Mobil Corp is considering selling its majority stake in Italy's main regasification terminal as part of a wider strategy to divest from non-core assets, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The Rovigo liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is owned by Exxon's subsidiary ExxonMobil Italiana Gas (70.7%), QatarEnergy subsidiary Qatar Terminal Company Limited (22%) and Snam Spa SRG.MI (7.3%). Snam, an Italian gas grid operator, has the first right of refusal should a partner decide to divest.

26 Feb 2023

Eni-chartered Cargo of Venezuelan Crude Departs for Europe

A 655,000-barrel cargo of Venezuelan heavy crude chartered by a unit of Italy's Eni SpA departed on Friday from a port operated by state-run PDVSA, shipping data showed, marking Venezuela's first export to Europe after a three-month pause.Eni and Spain's Repsol SA last year received U.S. authorizations to take Venezuelan oil to Europe as compensation for outstanding debt in an easing of American sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry.But the shipments were allocated intermittently last year. And so far this year most Venezuelan crude exports have been halted during a sweeping audit by new PDVSA boss Pedro Tellechea, who revised contract terms to avoid a series of failed payments by some customers.The Greece-flagged Aframax tanker Minerva Alexandra…

09 Feb 2023

Venezuela's PDVSA Allocates Heavy Crude Cargo to Italy's Eni

©JosIsaac/AdobeStock

Venezuela's PDVSA has allocated an oil cargo to a unit of Eni for a February loading, the first to the Italian firm following a contract suspension this year by new management at the state-run company, people familiar with the matter said. Eni and Spanish oil firm Repsol in May last year received authorizations from the U.S. State Department to take the crude to Europe for outstanding Venezuela debt and dividends, an exception to U.S. oil sanctions on Venezuela. The cargo allocations…

06 Feb 2023

Italian Union Files Legal Complaint Against Snam's LNG Terminal

© bikemp / Adobe Stock

The Italian trade union USB filed a legal complaint against a plan by gas grid operator Snam to set up a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Tuscan port of Piombino, it said in a press release on Friday.USB alleged Snam had committed serious "environmental crimes" while performing works to build the terminal.USB criticised in the statement the choice to set up the terminal in an area already polluted by an old steel plant, saying regasification processes would increase…

08 Jan 2023

Italy Rejects NGO Ship's Request for Closer Safe Port

The Italian government has rejected a request from a ship run by Doctors Without Borders non-governmental organisation (NGO) to assign a safe port closer to the place where it rescued 73 migrants, an NGO official said on Sunday.Italy's interior ministry did not comment on the issue.The dispute is part of a broader tug-of-war between Italy's right-wing government and NGOs over where to disembark migrants saved in the Mediterranean sea.On Saturday Doctor Without Borders' ship Geo Barents received permission from Rome to dock to Ancona port, which is in central Italy and on the country's east coast, far away from Sicily where NGO boats…

23 Dec 2022

Italy's LNG Import Capacity and New Terminals

Italy plans to boost its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity to 27 billion cubic metres (bcm) from nearly 17 bcm currently as it seeks to completely replace Russian gas supplies following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.In 2021, Moscow provided Rome with 29 bcm of gas via pipelines, equal to around 40% of Italy's total imports but Russian supplies have fallen in recent months to around 10% of total imports. Italy, which can now count on three LNG terminals, has mandated gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI to buy and set up two additional floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) near the cities of Piombino and Ravenna.A timely start for the Piombino FSRU is crucial to allow Italy to fill gas storage facilities in time for winter 2023…

12 Dec 2022

Italy's Snam to Select Offshore Site for New FSRU in Early 2023

Illustration only - Credit: Karel/AdobeStock

Itay's Snam will choose the offshore site for its new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the next 100 days, Italy's special commissioner for the project said on Friday, with its initial location already facing a legal challenge.Under the government's plan to diversify energy supply away from Russian gas, Italy's gas grid operator plans to moor the newly-bought FSRU in the port of Piombino, on Italy's west coast, for the next three years. After this period, it has…

10 Nov 2022

Snam Confirms 2022 Guidance, aims to boost Italy's Gas Storage & Transport Facilities

Italian gas grid operator Snam confirmed on Thursday its guidance for full-year net profit after reporting a rise of 10% in nine-month revenue to 2.4 billion euros ($2.41 billion). The state-controlled group said it planned to boost Italy's gas storage and transport facilities after getting the go-ahead to set up two new LNG terminals. The new floating LNG terminals and investments in gas infrastructure are part of a broader effort by the Italian government to replace dwindling Russian gas supplies and keep a lid on energy costs. The gas grid operator reported a decline of 9% in gas consumption by the industrial sector between January and September, in a sign that companies in Italy have cut activity in the face of high commodity prices and supply difficulties.

31 Oct 2022

Italy Commissioner Gives OK for New LNG Terminal in Piombino

© Uwe / Adobe Stock

A state-appointed commissioner in Italy on Tuesday gave his formal go-ahead to the set up of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the port of Piombino, on the western coast of the country.Preparatory works by gas grid operator Snam for the infrastructure can start on Wednesday, Commissioner Eugenio Giani said during a press conference in Florence.The floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), which is part of a broader plan designed by the former government of Mario Draghi to replace dwindling Russian gas supplies, needs to be operational by end-March.The gas grid operator said

31 Oct 2022

Tuscany Requests Costly Compensations for New Italian LNG Terminal

(Photo: Snam)

The region of Tuscany has asked for hundreds of millions of euros in investments in exchange for allowing a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Tuscan port of Piombino, the Italian region said.In a statement on Monday, the region's administration said it had approved the new terminal, adding it was sending a list of requests to the national government.In June Italian state-controlled gas grid operator Snam bought a new floating storage and regasification unit (FRSU) in an effort to boost the country's energy security in the face of dwindling Russian gas supplies.Tuscany President E

27 Jul 2022

Saipem Confirms Targets After Return to Core Profit

(File photo: Saipem)

Italy's Saipem on Wednesday confirmed its 2022 guidance and the targets in its business plan after the energy services group reported a first-half adjusted core profit of 321 million euros ($325 million).Investors this month agreed to fund only 1.4 billion euros of a life-saving 2 billion euro cash call, leaving the underwriting banks to mop up the remaining new shares.

19 Sep 2022

Italy's Commissioner Confident in a Timely Decision on New LNG Terminal

(Photo: Snam)

Italy's commissioner for the set up of a new regasification terminal is confident the infrastructure could get the green light by the end of October, in time for extending the country's LNG capacity at the beginning of 2023.Under the government's energy plan, the new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) should be operational by the end of March next year to increase the country's LNG imports and make up for a shortfall of Russian imports.The infrastructure, which was bought in June by gas grid operator Snam…

14 Sep 2022

Italy Must Increase LNG Capacity in 2023, Eni CEO Says

Claudio Descalzi (Photo: Eni)

Italy must increase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity from next year, energy group Eni's chief executive said on Wednesday.Italy has already secured additional gas imports from Algeria and Norway to make up for a fall in supplies from Russia, but it needs additional LNG terminals to receive more fuel from several countries, Claudio Descalzi said at a business conference.Descalzi said the state-controlled group, which last year imported about 21 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas from Russia out of a total of 29 bcm imported by Italy…

25 Mar 2022

Fincantieri to Expand Defense Business, M&A Halted for Now

© hlxandr / Adobe Stock

As Europe steps up its military spending after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri expects to expand its defense business, but sees M&A activity halted for now, its top executives said on Thursday.Speaking at an analysts call on 2021 results, Fincantieri CFO Giuseppe Dado said that the group's naval division was poised to grow in the short term thanks to the backlog of orders already secured.In the long-term the naval business, which makes military vessels, could rise to up to 40% of its shipbuilding segment, from a current figure of 31%, Dado said.In 2021 the shipbui

20 Sep 2022

Italy's Commissioner Confident in a Timely Decision on New FSRU

Credit: Karel/AdobeStock

Italy's commissioner for the set up of a new regasification terminal is confident the infrastructure could get the green light by the end of October, in time for extending the country's LNG capacity at the beginning of 2023.Under the government's energy plan, the new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) should be operational by the end of March next year to increase the country's LNG imports and make up for a shortfall of Russian imports.The infrastructure, which was bought in June by gas grid operator Snam SRG.MI…