Bahrain Considers Seasonal LNG Exports

11 Jun 2021 Issue: 64 / 23 By: Jamie Ingram

New gas discoveries have made Bahrain’s LNG import terminal redundant. In a bid to utilize the infrastructure it is examining the possibility of seasonal gas imports and re-exports to capitalize on price arbitrages. Do the economics stack up?

The discovery of large unconventional oil and gas reserves has resulted in Bahrain canning its LNG import plans. The kingdom is now eying the possibility of becoming an exporter. In some ways this is the same playbook as that followed in the US, but don’t expect Bahrain to be challenging Qatar and Australia for industry dominance any time soon (MEES, 11 June).

Bahrain LNG was established in 2015 to construct an onshore LNG regasification terminal capable of handling up to 800mn cfd, with volumes delivered and stored in a Floating Storage Unit (FSU) offshore (MEES, 11 December 2015). Construction of the onshore terminal was completed in early 2020 (MEES, 29 May 2020), but the kingdom has not yet utilized it as domestic output has remained more than sufficient to meet demand. (CONTINUED - 828 WORDS)