Italy New LNG Terminal to be Operational at End-month

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 strategy for replacing Russian gas with alternative supplies.

(Reuters - Reporting by Silvia Ognibene; writing by Francesca Landini; Editing by Keith Weir)