The Adriatic LNG terminal is a liquid natural gas offshore terminal, formally known as Terminale GNL Adriatico Srl.[1] Located in the northern Adriatic offshore of Porto Levante, Porto Viro, near Rovigo, Italy, it is the world's first offshore gravity-based structure LNG regasification terminal.[2] [1] The terminal is operated by ExxonMobil (70%), Qatar Terminal Ltd., a subsidiary of QatarEnergy (23%), and Snam (7%).
The terminal facility was built in Campamento, parish of San Roque, Spain, then towed to Porto Levante, Italy. Construction started in October 2003 and finished in August 2008. The LNG tanks "rings" were constructed in South Korea and they were assembled in Spain. The pipeline that connects to the terminal is located south of the Levante Po River mouth near Scanno Cavallari.[3]
After construction was completed in Campamento, the rig was towed by four tugboats to its current location off the coast of Rovigo. The flotilla traveled the in 16 days to reach the site. It traveled at an average speed of 4.4kn.[4] When it arrived, the terminal was weighted down by water to ensure it was permanently positioned on the seabed.
Operations started in the mid of 2009. It received its first cargo on 11 August 2009. When fully operational, it stores and regasifies 8e9m3 of natural gas per year, enough to meet 10% of Italy's natural gas needs.[5] [6] The terminal receives a LNG carrier every three days from Qatar.[7] The gas is then regasified and sent to the Italian gas network by a pipeline from the terminal to the coast.