Dutch oil storage firm Vopak (VOPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) and Gasunie said on Monday they had signed a 745 million euro ($1.18 billion) financing deal for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal they are building in Rotterdam.

The European Investment Bank will provide about 340 million euros for the Gate terminal joint venture, and a syndicate of 10 banks will supply a maximum of 405 million euros, Vopak and Dutch state pipeline operator Gasunie said in a statement.

The terminal is expected to be fully operational in the second half of 2011 and will have an initial throughput capacity of nine billion cubic metres per year.

Project costs are estimated at about 800 million euros, of which about 15 percent will be funded with equity contributions by shareholders and about 85 percent in the form of financing by the involved banks.

"This financial arrangement provides an excellent basis for a future expansion of the terminal," Vopak and Gasunie said in the statement.

Denmark's DONG Energy, Dutch energy utility Essent and Austria's OMV Gas International (OMVV.VI: Quote, Profile, Research) are set to be the first customers of the terminal, and each holds a 5 percent equity stake in the project.

LNG is gas chilled to liquid form to make it easier to transport. A long list of countries now plan LNG import terminals to diversify their supplies and reduce reliance on pipeline gas.