Sonatrach Skikda LNG Terminal
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Sonatrach Skikda LNG Terminal is an operating LNG terminal in Skikda Province, Algeria.[1]
Location
Project Details
The terminal was divided into six trains, as listed below.[2][3]
Project Details, Train 10
- Owner: Sonatrach[3]
- Parent: Government of Algeria
- Location: Skikda, Skikda District, Skikda Province, Algeria[4]
- Coordinates:36.8779, 6.9415 (exact)[4]
- Capacity: 1.0 mtpa[5]
- Status: Retired[6]
- Type: Export[3]
- Start Year: 1972[5]
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Project Details, Train 20
- Owner: Sonatrach[3]
- Parent: Government of Algeria
- Location: Skikda, Skikda District, Skikda Province, Algeria[4]
- Coordinates:36.8779, 6.9415 (exact)[4]
- Capacity: 1.0 mtpa[5]
- Status: Retired[6]
- Type: Export[3]
- Start Year: 1972[5]
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Project Details, Train 30
- Owner: Sonatrach[3]
- Parent: Government of Algeria
- Location: Skikda, Skikda District, Skikda Province, Algeria[4]
- Coordinates:36.8779, 6.9415 (exact)[4]
- Capacity: 1.0 mtpa[5]
- Status: Retired[6]
- Type: Export[3]
- Start Year: 1972[5]
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Project Details, Train 40
- Owner: Sonatrach[3]
- Parent: Government of Algeria
- Location: Skikda, Skikda District, Skikda Province, Algeria[4]
- Coordinates:36.8779, 6.9415 (exact)[4]
- Capacity: 1.0 mtpa[5]
- Status: Retired[6]
- Type: Export[3]
- Start Year: 1981[5]
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Project Details, Train 5P
- Owner: Sonatrach[3]
- Parent: Government of Algeria
- Location: Skikda, Skikda District, Skikda Province, Algeria[4]
- Coordinates:36.8779, 6.9415 (exact)[4]
- Capacity: 1.25 mtpa[5]
- Status: Retired[6]
- Type: Export[3]
- Start Year: 1981[5]
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Project Details, Train 6P
- Owner: Sonatrach[3]
- Parent: Government of Algeria
- Location: Skikda, Skikda District, Skikda Province, Algeria[4]
- Coordinates:36.8779, 6.9415 (exact)[4]
- Capacity: 1.25 mtpa[5]
- Status: Retired[6]
- Type: Export[3]
- Start Year: 1981[5]
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Background
Skikda LNG terminal currently consists of four natural gas liquefaction trains (only one operational train), with a total capacity of 7.7 million metric tons per year (mtpa), or 1.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd). Three trains are from the original build, and one is a rebuild following an explosion. It is owned by Sonatrach, an Algerian state-owned hydrocarbon resources company.[7][8][9][10]
Original GL1K & GL2K units
Until 2004, Skikda consisted of six gas liquefaction trains, with a total capacity around 5 mtpa. The trains were built between 1972 and 1981.[8][11] Skikda was built in three phases; the first three trains, 10, 20, and 30, were built between 1971 and 1973.[3][12] These trains were built by Technip.[3][12] Train 40 began operations in 1981, after being delayed for six years. This train was built by Prichard Rhodes, and was part of the second phase of Skikda Terminal's development.[3][12] Trains 5P ad 6P were also built by Prichard Rhodes, starting their operation in 1981, around three or four years later than originally planned.[3][12]
In the 1990s, all Skikda trains were revamped as part of a modernization and revitalization program.[3][12]
In a 2004 explosion and fire, three of the six trains were destroyed (trains 20, 30, and 40 were destroyed) and only one was ever rebuilt (see Rebuild Project Details).[3][12]
GL1K explosion
On January 19, 2004, three of the trains at Skikda were destroyed in a massive blast caused by what appeared to be the explosion of a steam boiler.[3] The blast killed 27 people, and injured 80; it shook windows a mile away. "The force of the blast overturned security vehicles and ambulances that were parked near the facilities, and the heat was so intense that it melted the vehicles' metal structures."[11] The accident's cost was around US$900 million.[2]
A later report found that a large amount of liquid natural gas had escaped through a pipe, and then formed a large vapor cloud that hovered over the facility, which then ignited.[2][13] The explosion was the worst accident in more than 30 years for the LNG industry, and it strengthened opponents of LNG, while putting supporters of the industry's expansion on the defensive.[14][15][2]
The three trains that exploded were a complete loss; however, the other three trains (trains 10, 5P, and 6P), totaling 3.2 mtpa, or 64% of the plant's pre-explosion capacity, were still intact, and were brought back into production in November 2004.[3]
Rebuild Project Details
- Owner: Sonatrach[16]
- Operator: Sonatrach[17]
- Parent: Government of Algeria
- Location: Skikda, Skikda District, Skikda Province, Algeria[4]
- Coordinates:36.8779, 6.9415 (exact)[4]
- Capacity: 4.5 mtpa[6][16]
- Status: Operating[6][1][18]
- Type: Export[6]
- Trains: 1[6]
- Start Year: 2013[6]
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
GL1K rebuild background
In 2005, Sonatrach launched a project to build a new single liquefaction train, with 4.5 mtpa capacity, to replace the trains that were destroyed in the 2004 explosion.[3] The project cost $2.8 billion. U.S. company KBR was selected to be the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor in 2007.[19][20] The train went into service in 2013.[10]
According to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) 2020 Annual Report, the GL1K rebuild was the only train currently operating.[6]
In June 2021, the failure of a gas turbine control mechanism at the terminal forced Sonatrach to shut down the complex temporarily. The company said it was conducting a "thorough inspection in order to carry out the necessary repairs".[21]
In February 2022, Sontrach announced that it would upgrade the facility to better facilitate exports to Asian and South American markets, including increasing its storage capacity.[22]
In March 2023, Sonatrach announced it would invest around US$1 billion in energy transition projects including flare gas recovery projects at the facility and at the Arzew-Bethioua LNG Terminal.[23]
As of July 2023, GIIGNL reported that projects to expand the facility's storage capacity and loading jetty were ongoing.[23] These projects included a larger jetty and a storage tank for which Sonatrach had awarded contracts in 2019 for the jetty, and in 2022 for the 150,000 cbm storage tank. Chinese CHEC and Sinopec were in charge of the construction of the jetty and the storage tank, respectively.[24]
In 2023, Alegria occupied "the first place in Africa as the largest importer of LNG for the first time since 2010, thus overtaking Nigeria."[25] Algeria mainly exports LNG to Turkey (over 4.3 million tonnes per year), France (3.2 million tonnes), Italy (1.8 million tonnes), and Spain (1.4 million tonnes), and China (0.4 million tonnes).[25]
As of 2024, GL1K continues to be the only train operating at the facility, according to the GIIGNL 2024 Annual Report, and the terminal continues to operate below capacity.[1][24] In March 2024, the newly built M3 jetty in the Skikda terminal received its first large LNG carrier, the 2017-built Ougarta.[24]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 GIIGNL (2024). "GIIGNL Annual Report 2024" (PDF). GIIGNL. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ouddai; et al. (2012). "The Skikda LNG accident: losses, lessons learned and safety climate assessment" (PDF). Retrieved June 25, 2024.
{{cite web}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|last=(help); line feed character in|title=at position 49 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 "Sonatrach Skikda LNG Project - Hydrocarbons Technology". www.hydrocarbons-technology.com. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 "GL1K · VWHW+7RP, Skikda, Algeria". GL1K · VWHW+7RP, Skikda, Algeria. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Skikda LNG – GL1K (Trains 1 – 3), Mechademy, accessed March 29, 2021
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 The LNG Industry: Annual Report 2020, page 41, International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers, accessed April 29, 2020
- ↑ Sonatrach Skikda LNG Terminal, Wikipedia, accessed April 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Gordon Shearer & Michael Tusiani. LNG: A Nontechnical Guide. Tulsa: Pennwell, 2007, pp. 254-256.
- ↑ The LNG Industry: Annual Report 2017, International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers, accessed June 2017.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 LNG Map 2016, Gas Infrastructure Europe, accessed June 2017.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Jacob Dweck & Sonia Boutillon. Deadly LNG Incident Holds Key Lessons For Developers, Regulators. Pipeline & Gas Journal, May 2004.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 LNGWM Alert (January 22, 2004). "Explosion at Sonatrach's Skikda LNG Export Plant" (PDF). Retrieved June 25, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Have We Learned Our Lessons: Revisiting the 2004 Skikda Explosion 16 Years Later | AIChE". www.aiche.org. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
- ↑ Algerian Explosion Stirs Foes of U.S. Gas Projects, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2004.
- ↑ Industry: Skikda accident would not happen in the US, Oil & Gas Journal, 27 Jan. 2004.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (May 24, 2022). "Annual Report 2022 Edition" (PDF). GIIGNL. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ GIIGNL Annual Report. GIIGNL. November 2021.
- ↑ Sonatrach (2022). "Sonatrach Annual Report 2022" (PDF). Sonatrach. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ KBR Awarded EPC Contract for Sonatrach Skikda LNG Project, KBR press release, 9 July 2007.
- ↑ Sonatrach Skikda LNG Terminal, A Barrel Full, accessed June 2017
- ↑ Stuart Elliott Algeria's Skikda LNG shut after technical issue, to undergo inspection: Sonatrach, S&P Global, Jun. 21, 2021
- ↑ John McKay. "Algeria to modernise Skikda LNG facilities to allow larger vessels and exports to Asia and South America". Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 GIIGNL. The LNG Industry: GIIGNL Annual Report 2023. July 14, 2023.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Staff, LNG Prime (2024-03-13). "Algeria's Sonatrach says new Skikda jetty gets first large LNG carrier". LNG Prime. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Algérie Presse Service (28 January 2024). "Gaz naturel liquéfié: l'Algérie désormais premier exportateur en Afrique". Algérie Presse Service. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
