June 12, 2013 [Ship & Bunker] - Oil and chemical storage giant Vopak may build its first Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage terminals, as well as adding other LNG facilities worldwide, Reuters reports.
Eelco Hoekstra, chief executive of the Dutch company, said rising supplies of U.S. shale oil and gas will strengthen the supply of LNG, allowing for more spot trading and more demand for storage capacity.
“This opens up opportunity for independent storage,” he said. “That’s exactly the role that we’ve been playing.”
Vopak now owns two LNG terminals in Europe and Mexico.
Hoestra said increasing use of LNG for marine fuel, as well as for trucking, could require smaller satellite terminals.
Vopak is already planning to add 4.9 million cubic meters of oil storage capacity over the next three years.
Also driven by an expected increase in LNG supply available for spot-market trading, commodities giant Glencore Xstrata (Glencore) recently entered the LNG trading market.
