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Paris, March 12, 2008 – The first shipment of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)* from Snøhvit was delivered to the Montoir‑de‑Bretagne terminal today. Snøhvit, located in the north of the polar circle, is the first liquefaction plant in Europe, and was commissioned in september 2007. The Provalys, a tanker specifically fitted out to withstand the severe weather conditions prevailing in the Norwegian arctic waters, will unload 154,500 cubic metres of LNG. This first delivery marks the opening of a new LNG supply route capable of providing 700 million cu.m. of gas in a full year, dedicated to serve in priority the needs of the European markets.
For Gaz de France, increasing the proportion of LNG in its long‑term contracts allows it to further improve the flexibility of its supplies. The percentage of LNG in the Group's overall supplies stood at 29.6% in 2006 and rose to 31.5% in 2007, strengthening Gaz de France as the largest European importer of LNG.
Snøhvit, a development in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea, is an integrated facility covering both the production and liquefaction of natural gas. Gaz de France has been involved in this project from the initial development planning stages and became a partner with a 12% interest in 2001.
In 2007, Norway was the Group's principal supplier of natural gas, representing 21.5% of Gaz de France's procurement portfolio. Working through its subsidiary, Gaz de France Norge, the Group is also present in upstream activities pursued in this European country of major importance as far as the exploration and production of oil and gas are concerned. In 2006, Gaz de France Norge was approved as an operator by the Norwegian authorities for the production phase of another natural gas development, the Gjøa field.
* Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been transformed into a liquid state by lowering its temperature to less than 160°C. For the same amount of energy, the volume of LNG is approximately 600 times less than that of natural gas in a gaseous state, making it possible to transport it by sea.
Group profile:
Gaz de France Group is a major energy player in Europe. As the leading natural gas distributor in Europe, Gaz de France employs almost 50,000 employees and generated €27 billion in sales in 2007. The Group holds a portfolio of some 14 million clients, approximately 11 million of which are in France. Listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, Gaz de France is also part of the CAC 40 and Dow Jones Stoxx 600 indices.
Press contact:
Célestine Fauche
Tel.: 33-1 47 54 24 43
Email: celestine-externe.fauche@gazdefrance.com
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