Snam has agreed to acquire Infrastrutture Trasporto Gas (ITG) along with a 7.3% stake in the offshore Terminale GNL Adriatico (Adriatic LNG) terminal from Edison in Italy for a total price of approximately €225m.

The transaction is expected to close by the year end, resulting in the EDF subsidiary Edison’s exit from Adriatic LNG which is 70.7% owned by ExxonMobil and 22% by Qatar Petroleum.

ITG operates an 83.3km long gas transmission pipeline which spans from Cavarzere in the Veneto region to Minerbio in the Emilia Romagna region.

Its annual transmission capacity is 9.6 billion cubic metres, which makes it a major player in the Italian gas transportation sector.

The ITG pipeline sources the gas from the Adriatic LNG regasification terminal and transports it to the Italian gas transmission network in Minerbio.

It is considered to be a strategic entry point for the Italian natural gas sector.

Snam CEO Marco Alverà said: “This investment enables us to strengthen our infrastructure in Italy as well as exploit new synergies in the integrated management of the gas system, adding a significant pipeline to our network and connecting a strategic entry point that was not under Snam’s control”.

Adriatic LNG on the other hand had begun operations in 2009 and is considered to be Italy’s largest offshore gravity-based structure for unloading, storing and regasification of LNG.

The LNG terminal is supported by long-term contracts for nearly 80% of the capacity along with medium-term contracts that cover for nearly 12%.

Adriatic LNG has an annual regasification capacity of about 8 billion cubic metres. The capacity accounts for half of the Italian LNG import capacity and more than 10% of domestic gas consumption.

The acquisition cost is subject to price adjustment at the time of completion of the transaction.

Besides, if Adriatic LNG signs new contracts for use of its terminal capacity, then the Italian gas group Snam will pay Edison additional consideration.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

Image: The Adriatic LNG Terminal in offshore Italy. Photo: courtesy of Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l.