LNG

GasLog Ltd., the Greek LNG fleet owner and operator with 33 ships, reported a drop in quarterly earnings while new charter agreements were signed along with a re-financing deal covering 23 carriers in the fleet.

The company’s profits for the fourth quarter more than halved to $31.44 million from $68.70M in the prior-year quarter.

GasLog’s annual profits dropped by around $100M to $196.30M in 2023 from the $297.24M logged in 2022.

The company, whose headquarters are in Hamilton, Bermuda, said adjusted fourth-quarter profits declined to $53.27 million from $75.57M in the same three months of 2022 ,while revenues also fell to $229.94M from $244.84M a year ago.

Charter extension

During the quarter GasLog extended by five years the time-charter agreement of the “GasLog Singapore”, a tri-fuel, diesel-electric (TFDE) LNG carrier, with New York-based New Fortress Energy. The contract is now due to expire in 2030.

In addition, the company’s affiliate, GasLog Partners LP, signed a multi-year time-charter with a major energy exploration company for the “GasLog Santiago”, also a TFDE vessel.

A third charter deal was for the carrier, “Methane Jane Elizabeth”, a steam turbine propulsion ship, and signed with Cheniere Marketing International, a unit of Houston, Texas-based Cheniere Energy. The contract is now due to expire in 2025.

GasLog also signed a new $2.8 billion five-year banking deal in the form of a senior secured revolving credit facility in November 2023.

“Involving 14 international banks, the facility refinanced the outstanding debt of $2.1Bln secured by 23 LNG carriers across both GasLog and GasLog Partners, following the acquisition by GasLog in July 2023 of all the outstanding common units of GasLog Partners,” explained GasLog Ltd.

Refinanced ships

The 23 LNG carriers, comprising 12 GasLog vessels and 11 GasLog Partners ships, include 10 dual-fuel two-stroke engine propulsion (X-DF) carriers, 10 TFDE vessels and three steam-propelled carriers.

“The facility has a five-year tenor, including two one-year extension options and simplifies GasLog’s debt structure, providing incremental available liquidity while reducing interest cost and debt service requirements,” GasLog Ltd added.

The GasLog board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per common share of GasLog to GasLog’s shareholders of record as of February 15, 2024.

At the end of December, GasLog had $221.4M of cash and cash equivalents and an additional amount of $10M of time deposits.

GasLog additionally had $3.1bln of debts outstanding under its credit facilities and bond agreements, of which $107.9M is repayable within one year.

A cooperation agreement has been signed between key natural gas infrastructure owners from Greece, the Balkans and Central Europe including Gastrade, developer of the Alexandroupolis floating LNG import terminal for Greece and the Balkans.

Gastrade SA, the Greek company developing an offshore LNG import terminal to serve eastern Greece and the Balkan nations, has ratified an agreement with the Greek national gas grid operator DESFA taking a 20 percent stake in the project.

The final share transfer agreement was signed in Athens by the founding shareholder and Gastrade Board Chairwoman Elmina Copelouzou and the Chief Executive of DESFA, Maria Rita Galli.

The floating LNG terminal off the port city of Alexandroupolis is expected to be operational by early 2023.

The progress on the project came after the recent approval by the European Commission, based on the European Union merger regulations, for the acquisition of joint control of Gastrade and the Bulgarian gas grid company Bulgartransgaz.

“The construction of the Alexandroupolis terminal will actively contribute to the country's energy security, liquidity and efficiency and will strengthen Greece's strategic role in Southeast Europe, offering opportunities for new natural gas exports to the region,” said a joint statement.

“This is a crucial European project of common interest, a priority for the EU as it strengthens security and diversifies the sources and routes of energy supply,” the statement explained

“In addition, the project promotes competition among gas suppliers and supports the creation of a transaction hub in the wider region of Southeast Europe, leading to lower prices that will benefit all end-users,” it added.

Balkan benefits

The FSRU will be connected to the National Natural Gas Transmission System of Greece with a 28-kilometres pipeline, through which the regasified LNG will be offered to the markets of Greece, Bulgaria and the wider region, including Romania, Serbia and Νorth Macedonia, as well as Moldova and Ukraine.

“Another important step for the emergence of Greece and especially of Alexandroupolis as an energy hub for the Balkans and Europe has been made,” declared Gastrade’s Copelouzou.

“We welcome DESFA to Gastrade, being convinced that with our full shareholder structure, the project in Alexandroupolis will play a leading role in the green transition of European networks, while strengthening the security of energy supply for the benefit of national economies and citizens,” she stated.

DESFA CEO Galli said that under the agreement the Greek national gas company had become a Gastrade shareholder.

“The project will contribute significantly to energy security and to the upgrading of Greece's role in regional energy developments,” stated Galli.

“DESFA's long experience in the management of the LNG terminal of Revithoussa makes it a valuable partner with valuable know-how,” she added.

The Gastrade-led project will be based on a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with LNG storage capacity of 170,000 cubic metres and a natural gas supply capacity that will exceed 5.5 billion cubic metres per annum.

Oct 1 (LNGJ) - Russian pipeline natural gas supplier to Western Europe, Gazprom, has celebrated the 25th anniversary of its supply contract with European Union nation Greece, which is currently planning a floating LNG import project offshore the port of Alexandroupolis and has imported cargoes since 2000 to the existing onshore terminal at Revithoussa, west of Athens.

   “Over the past quarter of a century, Gazprom has exported upwards of 54 billion cubic metres of gas to this country and the annual amount of supplies has grown by more than 15 times,” said Gazprom. “All these years, the cooperation has relied on a long-term contract with the Greek operator DEPA. The contract, which was signed in 1988, is still in effect,” it added. “Gas from Russia is delivered via the TurkStream gas pipeline and the national gas transmission system of Bulgaria,” the Russians noted.

The European Commission has approved EU funding of the new floating liquefied natural gas import terminal for Greece and the Balkans being developed offshore the port of Alexandroupolis by Greek company Gastrade.

The project using a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will have an overall delivery capacity of around 4 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

The subsea and onshore sections of the gas transmission pipeline will transmit LNG from the floating unit to the Greek natural gas network and onwards to third countries in the Balkans.

“The EU State aid will amount to €166.7 million ($200M) as the FLNG project contributes to the security and diversification of energy supplies in Greece and, more generally, in the region of Southeast Europe, without unduly distorting competition,” said the Commission statement.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of EU competition policy, stated that the new LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis would improve regional gas supply and infrastructure.

“This will contribute to achievement of the EU's goals in terms of security and diversification of energy supply,” added Vestager.

“The Greek support measure limits the aid to what is necessary to make the project happen and sufficient safeguards will be in place to ensure that potential competition distortions are minimised,” declared the Commissioner

Greece had notified the Commission of its plans to support the construction of the Alexandroupolis terminal, also consisting of offshore installations such as a mooring system and risers as well as subsea and onshore gas transmission pipelines.

“Given its strategic importance for the diversification of natural gas supplies into the Southeast European region, the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis has been included in the list of European Projects of Common Interest in the energy sector,” said the Commission.

“The terminal is expected to improve security of supply not only for Greece, but also for Bulgaria and for the wider European region, as it will constitute a new potential energy source to feed into the interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria,” it added.

The project will be financed by the Greek state using European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), notably funds directly controlled and managed by Greece under the 2014-2020 partnership agreement for the development.

“The beneficiary of the aid is Gastrade SA, a company in which the Greek gas incumbent (DEPA) and the Bulgarian gas Transmission System Operator (Bulgartransgaz EAD) hold a participation,” it added.

North Macedonia, previously a republic of the former Yugoslavia, said it would soon start construction of a natural gas pipeline interconnector to southern neighbour Greece to enable the import of US LNG cargoes via the floating import facility planned for offshore the Greek port of Alexandroupolis.

Gastrade, a Greek utility company and developer of the Alexandroupolis floating LNG terminal, has launched the second phase of a market test for the project to gauge demand in Greece and the Balkan states.

Greek utility Gastrade said 20 companies submitted expressions of interest in the first phase of its market test for the reservation of regasification capacity at the floating storage and regasification unit planned for the port of Alexandroupolis in northeast Greece.