Behold the spark …

Many years ago I was told that an expert is the one who has done the years. There sure is some truth in this but Mozart also was an expert in very young age. So were Einstein and Tesla.

I would not dare to stand in the line of these giants, but for me being an expert was always a declaration of will. The will to put in the hard work combined with a passion for what you do and the unbending will to leave a mark on the domain you are in.

All throughout 2007 EconGas was engaged in the quest of securing regasification capacity for then grandiose LNG ambitions. After a long search GATE was chosen to be our preferred terminal project. But soon we recognized that this would not be easy riding.

GATE was a premiere in the LNG world. A multiuser terminal from conception where equal partners had to collaborate as shippers was complicated by the fact that the operator had no capacity for himself and the terminal also had to make economic sense in a liberalized market environment.

Classically LNG regasification terminals were infrastructure pieces in an integrated chain where the LNG buyer and terminal capacity taker also owned and operated the terminal. He usually cleansed the terminal company (a 100% affiliate) of any commercial liability, even liability for their own default in order to secure cheaper finance for his infrastructure. As he was the master of the whole chain he had to swallow all risks in it anyhow so he put them to the volume trading arms as they did not invest.

In an unbundled world this does not work anymore. Still LNG professionals try to build their agreements on what has been done in the past. This and many other issues forced us to rewrite the book of regasification.

I was lucky to work with some of the best LNG professionals on this planet in order to succeed at this monumental task. We drilled the fundamentals and achieved the most sophisticated regasification terminal projects ever.

From 2008 on I was charged with the seemingly impossible task of developing a strategy for long-term LNG supply on economic terms for the GATE terminal. I developed the Bulk Make strategy and “Give to get” for LNG in order to secure a place at the negotiating table. At this time I also developed my very deep Africa network.

Bulk Make revolves around mid-scale liquefaction trains in order to convert gas flares into LNG. “Give to get” revolves around giving African LNG project developers a helping hand during business development in order to secure a place on the table.

Wanna know more? Contact me or visit my LinkedIn Profile.