BG delays LNG terminal project in Italy to at least 2010

BG Group, the UK's third-largest gas producer, expects to delay construction of its EUR 500 mm liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in Italy to at least the end of 2010. The company is in the process of getting environment impact assessment approval from Italy, which it expects in the middle of this year, Chief Executive Officer Frank Chapman said.
"BG is committed to the project," he told in London. "I don't think we're going to manage to construct this facility before" the end of 2010.

Italy's Puglia region rejected the company's assessment in December. BG said the ruling was non-binding since the Federal Environment Ministry has final say.
Local government opposition had already stalled the project, first authorized January 2003. Construction near the city of Brindisi was stopped in early 2007 after the government demanded an environmental study. The company has spent about EUR 200 mm on the terminal.

Enel sold its stake in the project to BG in 2005 and started a new terminal plan in Sicily. Reading, England-based BG is expanding its LNG capacity on expectation that the global demand for fuel will more than double to 400 mm tpy by 2020.
BG plans to start operations at Dragon LNG, a UK liquefied natural gas import terminal, in the second quarter. The plant was delayed from the first quarter on "technical" issues, Chapman said. A terminal in Chile will be completed in the middle of this year, while a Singapore LNG import terminal will be ready in 2012, he said.