LNG

Two shipping majors – TMS Cardiff Gas and BW Group and – have placed LNG carrier orders at South Korean shipyards, including the word-first three-tank carrier order. Expansion in the gas carrier segment is driven by rising ton-mile demand as Asian buyers replace curtailed Qatari volumes with cargoes from North America.

The BW Group of Singapore with LNG and shipping interests and led by Andreas Sohmen-Pao has shuffled shareholdings by acquiring a bigger stake in BW Energy with a purchase of shares in the energy unit from another affiliate BW Offshore.

BW LNG, the ship-owning subsidiary of Singapore-based BW Group, has taken delivery of the newbuild “BW Helios” with 174,000 cubic metres capacity from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in South Korea.

The carrier, which will sail under a term charter with UK major BP, is the second LNG carrier to join BW LNG's fleet so far this year, after the 174,000 cubic metres capacity “BW Lesmes” was delivered by DSME in March.

BW LNG has a further two carriers remaining on its orderbook, the 174,000 cubic metres capacity “BW Iris” and same-sized “BW Cassia”, which are due for delivery in August-September 2022.

The BW Group has main offices in Bermuda, Singapore and Norway with a fleet of around 400 vessels, including 26 LNG carriers, 159 liquefied petroleum gas vessels and 160 products tankers.

A total of three new LNG carriers have joined the BW global LNG fleet so far in May, with Greek owners TMS Cardiff Gas and Alpha Gas each receiving a carrier earlier this month.

A further three carriers are scheduled to join the global fleet by the end of the month, with Danish owner Celsius, Norwegian firm Flex LNG and Japanese owner NYK Lines all due to pick up a single carrier.

LNG carrier deliveries are expected to slow from the third quarter, with 12 scheduled for both the third and fourth quarters of this year, before slowing further in 2022-2023.

In other activities in mid-May 20121, BW Group said a $128.3 million financial package was arranged to help fund a converted floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) as part of a gas-for-power project in the Latin American nation of El Salvador.

The financial package has a 15-year contractual term. The funds provide resources for the purchase and conversion of the “BW Tatiana” LNG carrier to an FSRU.
This is the region's first FSRU, which will be permanently moored at the Port of Acajutla in El Salvador.

BW LNG is developing the project with Invenergy, a multinational power generation and operations company.

Invenergy and BW LNG will jointly commission, operate and maintain the FSRU.

BW Group said a $128.3 million financial package has been arranged with IDB Invest, the private arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, to help fund a converted floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) as part of a gas-for-power project in the Latin American nation of El Salvador.

The financial package has a 15-year contractual term. The funds provide resources for the purchase and conversion of the “BW Tatiana” LNG carrier to an FSRU.

This is the region's first FSRU, which will be permanently moored at the Port of Acajutla in El Salvador.

A BW Group subsidiary, BW LNG, is developing the project with Invenergy, a multinational power generation and operations company.

“The power project’s use of natural gas will reduce the country's reliance on imported diesel and heavy fuel oil-fired generation, resulting in significant environmental benefits,” said the developers.

Invenergy and BW LNG will jointly commission, operate and maintain the FSRU.

“BW is grateful for the opportunity to bring clean, affordable energy to the region, with the support of Invenergy and IDB Invest,” said Jessica Cheung, Vice President for Treasury and Corporate Finance at BW Group, the Singapore-based shipping and oil and gas projects company with a fleet of around 420 tankers and ships, including 190 LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.

“Besides enhancing this project's competitiveness, we hope this financing encourages the development of many more LNG-to-power projects in the region,” added Cheung.

BW LNG said a key part of the El Salvador project was the FSRU, which will have regasification capacity of 280 million standard cubic feet a day and storage capacity of 137,000 cubic metres.

Regasified LNG will be transported via a subsea pipeline to the onshore 378-megawatts natural gas-fired power plant.

The El Salvador project is scheduled to be completed in 2022 and is expected to meet about 30 percent of El Salvador's energy demand.

“The close of financing for the FSRU represents a significant step forward in the completion of the transformational project, the foundation for El Salvador's clean energy future,” said Meghan Schultz, Senior Vice President, Finance and Capital Markets at Invenergy.

“This multi-component project is only made possible through the collaboration and support of our incredible partners, BW LNG and IDB Invest,” added Schultz.

Oct 20 (LNGJ) - A Singapore-based shipping unit of the BW Group, BW LNG, and Swiss LNG equipment provider Burckhardt Compression have signed a 10-year service agreement covering nine LNG carriers with Laby-GI Compressors on board. “Building on their existing long-term relationship, the two companies agreed to a tailor-made ‘Fleet Management Solution’ which provides a total care package supported by the latest monitoring diagnostics,” they said.

   “This partnership was established to formally cement and promote the holistic and sustainable service standards that are necessary in a changing and uncertain world,” they said. “The new long-term service agreement (LTSA) was developed together with the BW LNG experts to provide services on board that add value to the operation of the vessels, such as improved lifecycle costs, operational efficiency and accurate preventive maintenance,” added Burckhardt.

The LNG and energy trading subsidiaries of Eni of Italy, China National Petroleum Corp., Socar of Azerbaijan and global commodities firm Trafigura are among the leading participants in the largest ever tender for 240 cargoes issued by Pakistan and for delivery to a Singapore-owned import facility near Karachi.

Pavilion Energy of Singapore and its shipping partner BW Group have signed an agreement for Pavilion to charter two more LNG carriers, each with capacity of 173,400 cubic metres and scheduled for delivery between 2019 and 2020.

Qatar Petroleum President and Chief Executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi has held talks in Islamabad with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan centering on more liquefied natural gas supplies for the Asian nation as it plans a third import facility.

Feb 14 (LNGJ) - BW Group, the Singapore-based energy shipping and platforms company, has ordered two LNG carriers from South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. The two vessels with capacities of 173,000 cubic metres will each cost around US$190 million and be delivered in the first half of 2020. BW currently has 16 LNG carriers on the water and five others on order in Korea. Of the 21 vessels, 18 of them are conventional LNG carriers while three are floating storage and regasification units.

BW Group of Singapore and Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. have formed an ownership joint venture for the floating storage and regasification unit “BW Integrity”, the second floating import facility deployed for Pakistan and giving Mitsui an entry into the FSRU business.