Sullom Voe’s last gas tanker loads up at terminal

The last gas tanker to visit Sullom Voe is currently loading at the terminal. When the Clipper Sky leaves later this week work will begin on dismantling the terminal’s old gas processing plant to be replaced by a smaller, simpler system, due to be ready in August.

Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) tankers have become increasingly rare visitors at Sullom Voe in recent years due to dwindling gas production which is now used both to help recover more oil offshore and run the terminal power station, which also supplies electricity to the Shetland grid.

The Clipper Sky will load a maximum of 15,029 metric tonnes of butane and 8,600 metric tonnes of propane. Terminal manager Lindsay Boswell is to make a presentation to the tanker captain to mark the occasion.

Although the terminal’s gas supply has declined, Total has begun building its own gas processing plant to the east of the existing terminal to handle future gas from new west of Shetland fields, including its own Laggan-Tormore development. All that gas will be piped to the UK gas grid via the St Fergus terminal near Peterhead.