Golar LNG has signed a finance lease agreement with a consortium of Chinese leasing companies to refinance the FLNG ’Gimi’ debt facility.
The sale leaseback facility will total about $1.2 bill and the transaction is subject to closing conditions, including documentation and third-party approvals.
It is expected to be finalised within the second quarter of this year, Golar said.
This facility will have a tenure of 12 years and a 17-year amortisation profile, with quarterly repayment installments throughout the lease period.
Upon closing and repayment of the existing debt facility, Golar subsidiary, Gimi MS Corp is expected to generate net proceeds of around $530 mill, which includes the release of existing interest rate swaps.
Golar said it will benefit from 70% of the proceeds, equivalent to about $371 mill.
On 18th January, 2025, FLNG ‘Gimi’ received feed gas from an FPSO operated by the bp-lead consortium developing the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project offshore Mauritania and Senegal.
The FLNG’s full commissioning is underway and the first LNG export cargo is expected this quarter, with a full commercial operations date (COD) expected within the second quarter, subject to all conditions being met.
First gas to the FLNG has resulted in the final upward adjustment to the commissioning rate under the commercial reset agreed in August, 2024.
COD will trigger the start of the 20-year lease and operate agreement that will unlock Golar’s share to the equivalent of around $3 bill of adjusted EBITDA backlog and recognition of contractual payments comprised of capital and operating elements in both the balance sheet and income statement, the company had revealed earlier.
