South Hook LNG terminal
Encyclopedia
South Hook LNG terminal is an LNG regasification terminal near Milford Haven
and is the largest LNG terminal in Europe. Together with the smaller Dragon LNG terminal it can handle up to 25% of the UK's gas requirement. The first tanker docked on 20 March 2009.
at South Hook.
imported from the Qatargas II
LNG plant
in Qatar
. in the five storage tanks based at the site, the tanks are of a large size; 94 metres in circumference and 31 metres high rising a further 12 metres at the top.
The regasified natural gas is to be fed through the South Wales Gas Pipeline
to the national gas network at Tirley, Gloucestershire
.
(67.5%), ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Terminal Company Ltd.
(24.15%) and ELF Petroleum UK Limited
(8.35%).
Because of the long running noise and vibration issues Local communities are forming a number of pressure groups to encourage the South Hook Terminal, Qatar gas and regulatory Authorities to carry out further assessments and enforcement. The aim of these groups is not to try and close the terminal down, but to encourage a better integration into the community by using quiet ships.
There is an ongoing controversy over the safety of the site spearheaded by the Safe Haven group. It is claimed by Safe Haven that in case of gas ignition, it could endanger twenty thousand lives and that there are concerns that sufficient risk assessments had not been carried out into the possibility of a collision or major incident at the port.
Milford Haven
Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...
and is the largest LNG terminal in Europe. Together with the smaller Dragon LNG terminal it can handle up to 25% of the UK's gas requirement. The first tanker docked on 20 March 2009.
History
The project was announced in April 2003. The terminal was located at the former Esso refineryEsso Refinery, Milford Haven
The Esso Refinery at Milford Haven was an oil refinery situated on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. Construction started in 1957 and the refinery was opened in 1960 by Duke of Edinburgh. Construction cost £18million and the refinery had the capacity to process 4.5million tons of crude oil a...
at South Hook.
Description
The terminal is built to store and re-gasify liquefied natural gasLiquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas or LNG is natural gas that has been converted temporarily to liquid form for ease of storage or transport....
imported from the Qatargas II
Qatargas
Qatargas is the world's largest liquefied natural gas company. It annually produces and supplies the globe with 42 million metric tons of LNG from across its four ventures . It is headquartered in Doha, Qatar, and maintains its upstream assets in Ras Laffan, Qatar...
LNG plant
LNG train
An LNG train is the term used to describe the liquefaction and purification facilities in a liquefied natural gas plant.In order to make it practical and commercially viable to transport natural gas from one country to another, its volume has to be greatly reduced...
in Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
. in the five storage tanks based at the site, the tanks are of a large size; 94 metres in circumference and 31 metres high rising a further 12 metres at the top.
The regasified natural gas is to be fed through the South Wales Gas Pipeline
South Wales Gas Pipeline
The South Wales Gas Pipeline is the UK’s largest high-pressure gas pipeline. The pipeline passing through Wales was built for the National Grid and links Dragon and South Hook liquid natural gas terminals at Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire with the national gas network at Tirley,...
to the national gas network at Tirley, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
Project company
The terminal is owned and operated by the by South Hook LNG Terminal Company Ltd, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum LNG Services (QG II) Ltd.Qatar Petroleum
Qatar Petroleum is a state owned petroleum company in Qatar. The company operates all oil and gas activities in Qatar, including exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage. QP's Chairman Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, is also the head of the Ministry of Energy and Industry and, as...
(67.5%), ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Terminal Company Ltd.
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
(24.15%) and ELF Petroleum UK Limited
Total S.A.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...
(8.35%).
Controversy
Droning and vibration from the Qatargas Q-Flex and Q-Max vessels also cause noise nuisance to local residents who have formed a community group to pressure the South Hook LNG Terminal and Qatargas to comment on the issue. A trial of new exhaust silencers has been implemnted but they are not producing a significant improvement in low level frequency mitigation.Because of the long running noise and vibration issues Local communities are forming a number of pressure groups to encourage the South Hook Terminal, Qatar gas and regulatory Authorities to carry out further assessments and enforcement. The aim of these groups is not to try and close the terminal down, but to encourage a better integration into the community by using quiet ships.
There is an ongoing controversy over the safety of the site spearheaded by the Safe Haven group. It is claimed by Safe Haven that in case of gas ignition, it could endanger twenty thousand lives and that there are concerns that sufficient risk assessments had not been carried out into the possibility of a collision or major incident at the port.