JEDDAH: The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced on Sunday that it would issue a request for proposal (RFP) in February 2017 to award the second cargo operator’s license at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
This step, a statement issued by GACA said, is part of its efforts to improve the services at the Kingdom’s airports, to open the country’s doors to foreign investors in accordance with the Saudi Vision 2030.
Abdulrahman Al-Mubarak, director of the Cargo Concessions Department for the Kingdom’s airports, said all meetings for the second cargo operator’s license have been concluded.
He said that the RFP would be launched in February next year so as to ensure that all joint-stock companies, interested in the project, would have enough time to work on their proposals.
Al-Mubarak said that GACA was working to improve logistic services and the overall performance of Kingdom’s airports to achieve the goals set in the Saudi Vision 2030.
He said that the Cargo Village at King Khalid International Airport would provide world-class logistic services.
It is a step in the right direction, he said. The official said that the bidding would be open to all international air cargo companies.
It would, he said, reduce the cost of operations and help create job opportunities for the Saudis.
Al-Mubarak said that similar projects were in the pipeline at various airports across the Kingdom.
GACA to invite bids for cargo operator’s license
GACA to invite bids for cargo operator’s license
European gas prices soar almost 50% as Iran conflict halts Qatar LNG output
- Analysts warn prolonged disruption could push prices higher
- Some shipments of oil, LNG through Strait of Hormuz suspended
- Benchmark Asian LNG price up almost 39 percent
LONDON: Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices soared by almost 50 percent on Monday, after major liquefied natural gas exporter Qatar Energy said it had halted production due to attacks in the Middle East.
Qatar, soon to cement its role as the world’s second largest LNG exporter after the US, plays a major role in balancing both Asian and European markets’ demand of LNG.
Most tanker owners, oil majors and trading houses have suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, trade sources said, after Tehran warned ships against moving through the waterway.
Europe has increased imports of LNG over the past few years as it seeks to phase out Russian gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Around 20 percent of the world’s LNG transits through the Strait of Hormuz and a prolonged suspension or full closure would increase global competition for other sources of the gas, driving up prices internationally.
“Disruptions to LNG flows would reignite competition between Asia and Europe for available cargoes,” said Massimo Di Odoardo, vice president, gas and LNG research at Wood Mackenzie.
The Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub, seen as a benchmark price for Europe, was up €14.56 at €46.52 per megawatt hour, or around $15.92/mmBtu, by 12:55 p.m. GMT, ICE data showed.
Prices were already some 25 percent higher earlier in the day but extended gains after QatarEnergy’s production halt.
Benchmark Asian LNG prices jumped almost 39 percent on Monday morning with the S&P Global Energy Japan-Korea-Marker, widely used as an Asian LNG benchmark, at $15.068 per million British thermal units, Platts data showed.
“If LNG/gas markets start to price in an extended period of losses to Qatari LNG supply, TTF could potentially spike to 80-100 euros/MWh ($28-35/mmBtu),” Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, said. The British April contract was up 40.83 pence at 119.40 pence per therm, ICE data showed.
Europe is also relying on LNG imports to help fill its gas storage sites which have been depleted over the winter and are currently around 30 percent full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed. In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was down €1.10 at €69.17 a tonne
