---

Skangas has entered into an agreement to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel to Statoil's platform supply vessels (PSVs).

The LNG is to be delivered by ship to several bases along the Norwegian west coast, located at Mongstad, Floro (Saga Fjordbase) and Kristiansund (Vestbase).

Additionally, Skangas will deliver LNG to Statoil's tugs at Karsto. The agreement is valid from 1st April 2017 until the end of 2020 with an option for two plus two years.

The agreement between Statoil and Skangas was a result of a tender process involving "several LNG suppliers in the Norwegian market", Skangas said.

"We see this agreement as a recognition of our daily work and a confirmation of a good relationship with Statoil," commented Tor Morten Osmundsen, CEO of Skangas. "It is important to have customers that emphasize the necessity of more sustainable operations enabling the use of a more environmentally friendly energy. We are depending on front runners to develop the market for LNG and further for liquefied biogas (LBG)."

The LNG is to be delivered from Skangas's natural gas liquefaction plant to the supply bases along the Norwegian coast by Skangas' new LNG feeder and bunker ship Coralius. The 5800-cubic-metre (cbm) Coralius is expected to be available in the spring of 2017.

Earlier this month, Bunker Index reported that Skangas bunkered a ship for the first time directly from its LNG terminal in Pori, Finland. The recently launched LNG terminal supplies LNG to a gas connection pipeline and offers truck loading as well as terminal-to-ship bunkering operations. It is the only location in the Gulf of Bothnia where ships can bunker directly from a terminal.

Skangas is owned by Gasum (with a 51 percent shareholding) and Norway's Lyse Group (with a 49 percent stake). Gasum is 75 percent owned by the Finnish government, with Russia's Gazprom owning a 25 percent share in the business.