PGNiG inks LNG charter deal with Knutsen

PGNiG Supply & Trading (PST), a subsidiary of Poland’s oil and gas company PGNiG, has signed an agreement with Norway’s shipping company Knutsen OAS Shipping for chartering of two liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers.

As informed, PST will be their sole user for 10 years, with an option of extension.

Moreover, the vessels will be built exclusively for the PGNiG Group and will enter service in the first half of 2024, according to the company.

“We are consistently developing PGNiG’s position on the international LNG market. Chartering of the tankers is an important step to implement our plans in this area,” said Paweł Majewski, PGNiG CEO.

The PGNiG Group has already contracted its first two LNG carriers in 2020, also with Knutsen OAS Shipping.

Both contracts stipulate that the shipowner will be responsible for the delivery, manning and maintenance of the vessels. PST will be in full control of the commercial operations.

All four LNG tankers chartered by PST will be vessels with a capacity of 174 thousand cubic meters, which gives the possibility of loading about 70 thousand tons of liquefied natural gas.

This means that each tanker will be able to transport a fuel load equivalent to about 100 million cubic meters after regasification, the company claims.

The PGNiG Group plans to use its gas carriers primarily to transport LNG from US gas liquefaction facilities contracted by PGNiG in the free on board (FOB) trading formula.