US-based firm Sycar said it has secured LNG supplies for its operations in Ecuador, as it continues to work on the country’s first import development.
Sycar said on Tuesday it has signed a deal with Colon LNG Marketing, a joint venture between US firm AES and France’s TotalEnergies, and the user of the Costa Norte LNG terminal in Panama.
Under the deal, the JV would supply LNG for Sycar’s operations in Ecuador. Sycar did not reveal volumes or the duration of the contract.
Panama’s first LNG import terminal consists of a 180,000 cbm tank and a 381 MW combined cycle power plant.
Besides regasification, the AES Panama-owned facility loads trucks and ISO containers with LNG. It has earlier this year opened a truck loading station to cater to the growing demand for the fuel in the region.
LNG supplies to Ecuador to start
Sycar said this agreement allows the firm to start introducing volumes of LNG for the industrial market of Ecuador, and at the same time continue with the development of its Jambeli LNG import project in Ecuador.
The Miami-based firm previously said it had teamed up with an unidentified trader for what it says is the first LNG import development in Ecuador.
Also, the small-scale project with a capacity of some 0.4 mtpa includes port facilities to accommodate an FSRU which would supply regasified LNG to the Ecuadorian power and industrial markets.
Located in Bajo Alto in El Oro province, the facility would sit in the Jambeli Canal in sheltered inland waters with average water depths of about 11 meters. The terminal would cater to the natural gas needs for the southern part of Ecuador, according to Sycar.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Environment and Water of Ecuador has granted Sycar the final nod for the project’s environmental impact study.
Besides developing the terminal, the firm also signed a deal with Air Flow USA to start supplying LNG via ISO containers in Ecuador.
Sycar said the signing of this new contract is “good news” for the project and a step towards the construction of the LNG import terminal in Ecuador.
The firm still needs to take a final investment decision in order to start building the project.
