Cabot LNG, currently the only active liquefied natural gas importer on the East Coast, has entered into a second 20-year charter agreement with Norwegian shipping giant Bergesen for a 138,000 cubic meter LNG carrier. Cabot’s first carrier agreement was completed in November 2000 and both vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2003.

Primarily, both carriers will be used to deliver LNG from Trinidad to its new liquefaction facilities and other supply sources for its LNG import terminal in Everett, MA. The carriers, both larger than Cabot’s only other vessel, Matthew, also could be used to make deliveries to other receiving terminals in the United States. Company officials offered no details on how much the carriers cost or what other terminals they could serve.

“The international LNG business is expanding rapidly,” said William P. Utt, CEO of Tractebel North America Inc. in a statement. Tractebel, the energy arm of Suez, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, is Cabot LNG’s parent company. “Having these state-of-the-art carriers under long-term charter will be a tremendous asset as we work to substantially increase imports to the U.S. over the next three-to-five years.”

Tractebel purchased Cabot almost a year ago (see Daily GPI, July 14, 2000) for $680 million. The deal gave Tractebel the LNG terminal in Everett and a 10% interest in a liquefaction facility in Trinidad and Tobago along with the LNG tanker, Matthew. When it made the purchase, Tractebel said it would concentrate its future growth along the “Boston-to-Richmond” corridor, and also extend its reach into Texas and states in the Southwest. It already operates 20 U.S.-based power plants in 12 states.

Cabot LNG is the parent company of Distrigas of Massachusetts LLC, which owns and operates the Everett LNG terminal. The Everett terminal resells LNG to serve gas utilities, independent power producers, gas marketing companies and other industrial customers in the northeast part of the United States. Cabot current uses its carrier Matthew, which has a capacity of 125,000 cubic meters, and the Sonatrach Mostefa Ben Boulaid vessel to transport LNG from Algeria to Everett.

Just last week, Deutsche Bank analysts predicted that as long as prices remain near the current level, the LNG market will play a “big role” in both Europe and the United States in the coming years. They reported that with a current growth rate of 8%, LNG will be a “key growth engine” for many of the world’s majors (see Daily GPI, May 31).

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