GDF SUEZ Gas NA (GSGNA) has announced it has entered into a purchase agreement with Gaz Metro LNG, LP ofMontrealthat will make available up to 1.0 Bcf (billion cubic feet) of additional LNG (liquefied natural gas) to meet the peak 2014-2015 winter demand in New England.
"This second annual arrangement withGaz Metrorepresents an important step in the further diversification of our supply portfolio, as well as an opportunity for us to take advantage of gas purchases on this continent to increase our supply assets, and to continue to ensure reliability to New England when resources can be tight—the winter heating season," saidFrank Katulak, President and Chief Executive Officer of GSGNA. "Additional and reliable supplies such as these will also allow us to cost effectively provide more services to the marketplace by optimizing existing natural gas infrastructure in the region."
Tanker trucks are filled with natural gas at the distribution hub in Everett, MA. (PRNewsFoto/GDF SUEZ Gas NA)
Under the contract, GSGNA will commit to purchase 475,000 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of natural gas from Gaz Metro over a five-month period beginning inJuly 2014, with the potential to purchase an additional 500,000 Mcf over the same period. The LNG will be transported by tanker truck to New England utilities to help meet gas inventory refill requirements. Gas utilities in the region purchase LNG during the summer and into fall to fill above-ground storage tanks. That LNG is then drawn down during cold winter days to meet peak demand needs.
The natural gas will be sourced from Canada. The LNG will not be used in Vermont.This purchase of LNG from Gaz Met will betruckedby a third party (as a liquid) to gas utilities in New England, and will supplement the supplies they receive from Everett already. (There are 47 LNG storage tanks throughout New England.) These utilities will store the LNG (as a liquid), and then draw down on that inventory during cold winter days when demand peaks and deliver it to customers (as a vapor).Natural gas liquefies at –160 degrees C (-260 degrees F), which reduces its volume 600 times.
GDF SUEZ Gas NA owns Distrigas and the Everett LNG Import Terminal. The LNG is stored in tanks in Everett and either sent out via one of two interstate pipelines (as a vapor), fed into National Grid’s gas utility distribution system (as a vapor), sent to the power plant that is next door (as a vapor), or trucked to gas utilities (as a liquid), which have similar LNG storage tanks of their own.
About GDF SUEZ Gas NA
GDF SUEZ Gas NA is a subsidiary of GDF SUEZ Energy North America, which manages a range of energy businesses inthe United States,Mexico, and Canada. These businesses include electricity generation and cogeneration, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) distribution and sales, and retail energy sales and related services to commercial and industrial customers. GDF SUEZ Gas NA owns and operates an LNG receiving terminal inEverett, Mass., which began operations in 1971 and currently serves most of the natural gas utilities in New England and key power producers through both pipeline deliveries and an average of 10,000 tanker truck deliveries of LNG each year.
AboutGaz Metro
With over$5 billionin assets,Gaz Metrois a leading energy provider. It is the largest natural gas distribution company inQuebec, where its 10,000-km underground network of pipelines serves 300 municipalities and more than 185,000 customers.Gaz Metrois also present inVermont, producing electricity and distributing electricity and natural gas to cater to the needs for some 300,000 customers.Gaz Metrois actively involved in the development of innovative, sustainability-oriented energy projects such as the production of wind power, the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel and the development of biomethane as a renewable energy source. GazMetro is committed to ensuring the satisfaction of its customers, providing support to businesses, local organizations, families and communities, and meeting the needs of its partners (Gaz Metroinc. and Valener) and employees.www.gazmetro.com
BOSTON,Aug. 12, 2014/PRNewswire/ --GDF SUEZ Gas NAwww.gdfsuezna.comwww.gdfsuez.comTwitter: @gdfsuezna.