Royal Dutch Shell has acquired a 95.9% stake in Norwegian liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier Gasnor for $74m.
Gasnor operates three small-scale production plants and delivers LNG as a fuel to industrial and marine customers, with distribution assets including two tanker ships, a fleet of trucks and a network of terminals.
Shell, which already owns 4.1% of the shares in Gasnor, said the acquisition will help create an LNG sales business, a new addition to the company’s commercial customers’ fuel mix.
This business will target European marine customers ahead of new environmental regulations that will come into force from 2015.
The regulations will require lower levels of air-quality emissions of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides across the Baltic Sea, English Channel and North Sea.
Shell downstream LNG vice president Colin Abraham said, "The Gasnor acquisition provides Shell with invaluable customer and market insight built up over a number of years. This will help us to quickly develop and meet customer requirements for LNG as a transport fuel."
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By GlobalDataGasnor chief executive officer Eilef Stange said, "There is real growth potential for small scale LNG in Europe, particularly in the marine sector, and Gasnor with Shell is well placed to capitalise on this."
The transaction is expected to be closed in the third quarter of 2012.
