Supplies for the Lubminer LNG terminal have arrived off the West Pomeranian coast - from the USA. This causes some confusion. The frequency of tanker calls is expected to increase.
Lubmin/Mukran (dpa/mv) - A tanker with the second delivery of liquefied natural gas for the terminal in Lubmin arrived in front of Rügen on Wednesday. The "Cool Voyager" coming from the USA will soon deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the tank storage ship "Seapeak Hispania" based there, said Stephan Knabe from Deutsche Regas. During the ramp-up phase, around two tanker calls per month are expected over the next three months. After that, according to Knabe, the goal is one tanker per week. "The selection of the source is up to our customers. We only find out about it shortly beforehand."
According to earlier information, the company does not know whether the LNG delivered from the USA was obtained by fracking. In mid-January, Deutsche Regas stated that contracts with long-term suppliers do not include deliveries from the USA or Russia. However, this only referred to preliminary agreements for the commissioning phase, Knabe explained at the beginning of the week. One is now already in continuous operation and the suppliers therefore have a largely free hand. However, the assurance from the long-term suppliers that the gas was not Russian remains valid.
Franz-Robert Liskow, head of the CDU parliamentary group in the Schwerin state parliament, was amazed at what he saw as contradictory information. "In the end, it is crucial that Germany has a secure, inexpensive gas supply," he said. "If the USA step in as a supplier, I have no problem with that."
LNG from the USA has been criticized for being extracted using fracking. Gas or oil is extracted from rock layers with the help of pressure and liquids, which can pose a risk to the environment. The method is forbidden in Germany. Energy supplies from Russia are partially boycotted in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine.
According to ship tracking services on the Internet, the "Cool Voyager" took off from the Gulf Coast of the US state of Louisiana in mid-January and, according to earlier information, loaded around 155,000 cubic meters of LNG. Smaller shuttle ships transport the LNG from the "Seapeak Hispania" through the shallow Bay of Greifswald to the actual terminal in the industrial port in Lubmin. The operators received the operating license in mid-January. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had symbolically opened the terminal.
