KN cargo turnover grows for third month in a row
In May, oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal operator KN (AB Klaipėdos Nafta) reloaded the most oil products it has since the beginning of the year. Klaipėdos Nafta says the growth in transhipment was conditioned by the resurgent supply of transit cargo.
Cargo turnover at the Klaipėda and Subačius oil terminals in May 2017 was the highest it has been in the five months of this year, after increasing for three months in a row. A total of 668,000 tons of oil products were loaded into the tanks in May, and even though this is 23.7 per cent less than during the same month last year, it is the best throughput result this year. It should be noted that in May last year, the company achieved exceptionally high throughput results.
A total of 2.657 million tons of oil products were loaded into the company's tanks in January–May, while 3.715 million tons were loaded during the same period last year. The decline in throughput can be explained by the protracted crisis in oil supply from Russia to Belarus that has affected transit cargo flows from this country's oil refineries, as well as the routine repairs at the SC Orlen Lietuva oil refinery that were carried out earlier than they were last year.
“We can see a trend that the flow of transit cargo is slowly recovering, since in early April 2017, Russia and Belarus agreed on the renewal of crude oil supply and Belarusian refineries are gradually returning to normal oil production levels,” says KN CEO Mindaugas Jusius of the positive developments.
During the first five months of this year, the LNG terminal supplied the market with 4.210 million MWh of gas, compared with the 7.884 million MWh that were supplied during the same period last year. In May, the LNG terminal degassed and supplied 1.233 million MWh of natural gas to the natural gas transmission system, which is similar to last year, when 1.406 million MWh were degassed.
“Since the beginning of this year, the LNG terminal’s scope of activities has been reduced due to the smaller capacities ordered by users; however, in evaluating the total gas year, which is calculated from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017, utilisation of the terminal during peak time, when the gas demand is the highest, is over 40 per cent, and when analysing individual months – over 50 per cent. Compared with other European LNG terminals, this is regarded as a very good result, and is a clear indication that the terminal is used effectively,” comments Mr Jusius.
Over the first five months of this year, KN received EUR 43.9 million in income – 8.4 per cent less than last year.
Preliminary sales revenues received from the Klaipėda and Subačius oil terminals in May reached EUR 3.3 million, while EUR 4 million were received in May of last year. Tentatively, the oil terminals have earned EUR 14.4 million since the beginning of the year – 25.6 per cent less than last year.
Sales income for the LNG terminal in May came to EUR 5.5 million, which is the same as last year. This income is calculated by the LNG funds administrator and is made up of the part of the safety component in the price of natural gas allocated to offset the operational costs of the LNG terminal, as well as LNG gasification and loading revenue. In five months, the LNG terminal preliminarily received EUR 29.5 million, which is 3.1 per cent more than last year.