* European utilities to absorb additional LNG supply
* Gate sees pick-up in interest for import capacity
By Sarah McFarlane and Oleg Vukmanovic
LONDON/MILAN, Dec 10 (Reuters) - European utilities areexpected to take centre stage when a wave of liquefied naturalgas (LNG) hits Europe starting next year, as long unprofitableimport capacity soars in value and bolsters their clout in theglobal trade.
Under-used LNG import terminals in Britain, Netherlands,Belgium, France and Spain, where the majority of import rightsare held by utilities, are set to see more action, assuming gasprices can stay competitive.
Utilisation at Rotterdam's GATE terminal is expected to beabout 1 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2015, a fraction of its 12bcm annual LNG import capacity.
But European LNG imports are set to rise, with consultancyEnergy Aspects forecasting a rise to around 91 million tonnes by2017 from approximately 40 million this year.
That promises to bolster the value of import capacity rightswhich utilities and others hold to deliver LNG into Europe,turning around recent annual losses in the millions of euros dueto lack of use.
"Capacity is becoming traded like a commodity now so asdemand increases the price per import slot will rise," said onetrader with capacity at a northwest Europe import terminal.
"The capacity holder will make money on selling the slot butalso on selling the cargo of LNG into Europe's gas markets,boosting their sales volumes and market share."
One benefit of northwest Europe's excess import capacity,with its extensive pipeline networks and highly liquid tradinghubs, is that it can better absorb additional gas supply thanother regions.
Australia and the United States are just two of severalproducers gearing up for higher exports.
"European utilities will probably absorb most of theadditional supply coming into Europe," said Javier Moret, headof LNG origination at German utility RWE.
"Utilities have the customers and commercial infrastructureto place the gas in Europe."
Signs are already emerging of increased appetite forcapacity.
There has been interest in unsold capacity at Rotterdam'sGATE terminal "for the first time in many years", according toGate commercial manager Stefaan Adriaens.
Dong Energy, EconGas, E.On, Shell andEneco are all existing holders of Gate capacity but around 0.9billion cubic metres (bcm) remains available.
Adriaens said there had been a wide range of companiesinterested including trade houses, U.S. LNG exporters andEuropean utilities.
"They've (utilities) been sitting on these import capacityassets for a long time, and particularly for the terminals whichhave open access, they have now got an asset which is worthmoney," said energy consultant David Ledesma.
U.S. producers are already jostling for position.
This year Houston-based Cheniere Energy signed dealswith French companies Engie and EDF for the deliveryof cargoes into, among others, a new import terminal in Dunkirk,France.
"Utilities have been very unfortunate because they have beensitting on a lot of regasification capacity which was losingthem a lot of money, but I believe that regasification capacitywill become very valuable," a second trader said. (Editing by Jason Neely)
