Mainly due to oversupply and low margins, many LNG import terminals have sought to create new demand by introducing new services at traditional LNG import facilities that had been limited to LNG unloading, regasification, and injection into the national gas supply network.
These terminals have adapted, or are adapting, their facilities to offer a range of services to customers. These new services often allow LNG to be moved to other markets, include:
- Ship reloading – the transfer of LNG from the terminal into a vessel (including smaller ships);
- Transhipment – the direct transfer of LNG from one vessel to another;
- Bunkering – the loading of LNG onto bunkering ships for supply to LNG-fuelled ships.
- Truck loading – the loading of LNG onto tank trucks, which transport LNG in smaller quantities;
- A cooling down and gassing up service – making use of LNG to cool down and gas up ships.
- Rail loading (i.e., loading LNG onto railcars) is currently offered at a few terminals but is under consideration at several additional LNG import terminals.
The basic service is unloading and storing LNG cargoes in insulated onshore tanks or floating storage units. Storage enables greater operational flexibility in regasification times. It also creates arbitrage opportunities for the market. This preliminary process is followed by regasification, which converts the LNG back to its gaseous state for distribution through pipelines towards the domestic and regional markets. Public and private plants allow for matching seasonal demand peaks.
LNG facilities might support small-scale LNG distribution, loading LNG onto trucks or small vessels for delivery to industrial sites, ferries, and off-grid communities. This niche can be significant in countries with less developed pipeline networks, such as island nations (Malta, Cyprus) or smaller markets.
Bunkering services have increased due to IMO discussions on sulphur caps and the broader decarbonisation agenda. Bunkering operations can be conducted via truck-to-ship, ship-to-ship (STS), or hybrid methods. Early adopters have used this practice to provide the infrastructure to attract cruise lines and overland businesses switching to low-emission fuels. For shipping firms, bunkering LNG helps reduce transit risks and ensures compliance with the IMO International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low-Flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code). Further, the flexibility offered by reloading and small-scale distribution presents buyers and shipowners with greater opportunities to optimise supply chains.
Reloading and re-export of stored LNG: cargoes are transferred on board vessels for onward delivery to alternative markets. For example, Spanish terminals have regularly re-exported LNG to Asian markets when favourable price spreads warrant arbitrage.