Repsol and Qatargas today signed a multiyear LNG agreement under which Qatargas will supply LNG to Repsol Energy Canada Ltd. at the Canaport™ LNG facility in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The agreement was signed at Qatargas’s headquarters in Doha (Qatar). Qatargas will deliver LNG to Canaport LNG using both Q-Flex and Q-Max ships.

The Q-Max and Q-Flex vessels are the largest LNG tankers in the world with capacity to carry the equivalent of approximately 5.6 and 4.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, respectively. Canaport is one of the few terminals worldwide with capacity to dock these ships.

“The new LNG supply from Qatar strengthens Repsol’s position in the Canadian and Northeast US markets as a reliable, diversified, flexible supplier of natural gas,” said Benjamin Palomo, Executive Director of LNG for Repsol.

Repsol is expanding in LNG to reinforce its competitive positioning, as the business is seen as a key driver of medium and long-term growth. Repsol is already one of the world’s largest LNG operators.

Canaport LNG, opened by Antonio Brufau in September of 2009, is the first land-based LNG receiving and regasification facility to be built in over 30 years on North America’s Atlantic coast. Repsol has delivered over 100 bcf of natural gas to Northeast US since Canaport LNG opened.

The 1 Bcf per day facility supplies natural gas to homes, businesses and industry in Canada and the northeast US. The Canaport LNG Terminal, along with Repsol’s other natural gas assets, are capable of meeting about 20 percent of the natural gas demand in New York and New England.

As a result, Repsol has become a major player in the Eastern Canada and Northeast US natural gas markets. Currently, natural gas supplies 75% of the electric generation market in Northeast USA and continues to increase its share in the home heating market.

The new multiyear LNG supply agreement with Qatargas further enhances Repsol’s supply portfolio and its ability to provide more secure supplies of natural gas to Eastern Canada and the Northeast USA markets. Qatar, the world’s leading exporter of LNG, has the third-largest oil and gas reserves worldwide (about 14% of the world total) with proven oil reserves of approximately 15 billion barrels and over 900 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves.

Source: Repsol, October 7, 2010