LNG

New Fortress Energy, the US integrated LNG and power company that owns, operates or provides natural gas to 30 facilities in five countries has almost tripled net profits in the past year.

Saipem, the Italian subsea company with contracts for LNG project, pipeline natural and oil worldwide reported a 19 percent jump in revenues as new contracts also built the backlog to more than $32Bln.

Dec 4 (LNGJ) - BrasFELS Shipyard, located in the southwest of Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil and part of the Singapore-based Seatrium Group, has secured a contract from a subsidiary of Japan’s MODEC to undertake parts of the topside modules fabrication of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit for the Raia natural gas project in Brazil, operated by Norway’s Equinor on behalf of a consortium. The Raia project comprises the development of a pre-salt gas and condensate field in the Campos Basin, located about 200 kilometres (124 miles) offshore the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro to produce mainly gas but also some oil.

   “We are pleased to partner with MODEC on yet another FPSO topside modules fabrication project, affirming Seatrium’s position as a leading global player in FPSO newbuilds and conversions,” said Marlin Khiew, Executive Vice President of Oil & Gas (Americas) at Seatrium. “Over the years, we have leveraged our deep engineering expertise, international yard footprint and strong track record to deliver over 260 Floating Production Units and FPSO conversions and newbuilds, solidifying our market leadership in this product segment,” Khiew added.

New Fortress Energy, the New York-based developer of liquefied natural gas import and export projects, has entered into a definitive agreement to charter the “Energos Winter”, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), from Brazilian state company Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) and with the FSRU being deployed in the south of the country.

NFE said that the “Energos Winter” charter from Petrobras would start in December and the FSRU would “immediately” be deployed to the Terminal Gas Sul (TGS), NFE’s newest LNG import facility in the state of Santa Catarina.

The US company said that the TGS terminal project would thus begin commercial operations ahead of schedule in January 2024.

NFE is currently completing two terminals projects in Brazil, one at Santa Catarina and a second at Barcarena in the state of Pará in the far northeast of Brazil.

Growth opportunity

“We are extremely pleased to reach this agreement with Petrobras and begin operations at the TGS terminal in Santa Catarina, Brazil ahead of schedule in January 2024,” said NFE Managing Director Andrew Dete.

“The TGS terminal is a unique, high-growth opportunity for NFE, as connection to the pipeline system in south Brazil offers a diverse and near-term set of opportunities across power and gas supply,” Dete explained.

The “Energos Winter” will be sub-chartered by NFE through the remaining term of the Petrobras charter with Energos Infrastructure and then direct-chartered by NFE on a long-term basis with Energos.

“This will enable NFE to commence commercial operations at TGS in January 2024 and continue uninterrupted service on a long-term basis,” said NFE.

Energos Infrastructure, the owner of the “Energos Winter” FSRU, is owned 80 percent by funds managed by New York equity firm Apollo and 20 percent owned by NFE.

LNG production

NFE is on course to start LNG production and export operations by early 2024 at Mexico’s first production facility with capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per annum.

NFE’s “Fast LNG” project comprises modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs to enable lower costs

The US company and Mexico's state-owned power utility, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), have set up the LNG hub in Altamira in the Gulf of Mexico to convert Mexican natural gas into LNG for export.

Each of NFE’s three parts of the first “Fast LNG” project were completed at the Kiewit Offshore Services yard in Ingleside in Texas.

The company said that the first “FLNG 1” liquefaction operating facility is being deployed in Mexican waters at a cost of just $1.3 billion, far below the cost of other proposed projects.

Nimofast Brasil SA has signed a partnership agreement with the Norwegian company Kanfer Shipping AS to offer small and medium-scale LNG shipping, small-scale floating storage units (FSUs) and LNG bunkering to its customers in Brazil from 2025.

“The LNG vessels and LNG bunker ships will be loaded via the permanently based FSU at the Nimofast LNG import and distribution terminal in the state of Paraná,” said Kanfer.

Kanfer is one of the leading companies for small-scale LNG and gas solutions based in Norway.

Kanfer explained that its aim was to help stranded customers in emerging markets to efficiently access LNG through transport and storage and to provide clean and cost-effective bunkering infrastructure.

“We are very much looking forward to cooperating with Nimofast by using our patented technologies to improve both the availability and accessibility of LNG for the customers in Brazil as well as being cost efficient,” said Stig Hagen, Chief Executive of Kanfer.

LNG gap

“Kanfer’s small-scale solutions for sea transport, storage and bunkering create a virtual LNG pipeline, solving a critical gap in the LNG supply chain,” stated Hagen.

Nimofast is an LNG project development company with its roots in trading and is fully licensed and authorized by the Brazilian regulator, the National Agency of Petroleum (ANP), to import LNG to Brazil.

Nimofast recently announced that it secured enough LNG offtake volumes to justify a final investment decision via supply contracts with GNLink, a company controlled by asset manager Lorinvest, and with energy trading company Migratio Gas.

The terminal is expected to be operational in 2025.

“We noticed that many clients in Brazil, either require relatively small volumes of LNG, or do not have suitable port infrastructure to build or to justify their own LNG import terminal,” explained Nimofast President Ramon Reis.

Port drafts

“Via the partnership with Kanfer Shipping, we are able to offer and deliver LNG to any customer along the Brazilian coastline regardless of the requested volumes or port draft limitations,” he added.

“We also see LNG bunkering as a growth market to meet environmental and economic objectives in shipping,” stated Reis.

The third party in the venture is Maius GmbH, a Swiss structuring and project finance firm which is advising Nimofast on the structuring of its debt and equity, strategic partnerships and risk mitigation of the project.

“We congratulate Nimofast and the partners on achieving another important milestone that will contribute to the energy transition and security in Brazil,” said Stefan M. Rohmer, the Maius CEO.

“We are proud to be part of the team and to be the lead adviser for this privately-funded, market-leading project,” declared Rohmer.

Golar LNG Ltd said it sold about one third of the 18.6 million New Fortress Energy Inc. shares received upon completion of the sale of Hygo Energy Transition to NFE in April 2021.

The sale is expected to raise net proceeds of approximately $250 million which Golar said it would seek to deploy to floating LNG growth projects.

“Golar is excited about new FLNG growth prospects, including those being pursued by NFE and plans to remain a supportive shareholder for the foreseeable future,” stated Golar Chief Executive Karl Fredrik Staubo in regards to the sale.

Golar LNG reorganized its business following the sale of the Hygo Energy Transition stake and Golar LNG Partners to New York-based LNG-to-power firm NFE.

Golar finalized the sale in 2021 of its 50 percent stake in Hygo Energy Transition, formerly known as Golar Power, and its 32 percent interest in its US affiliate Golar LNG Partners, both to NFE.

Hygo Energy itself was a joint venture set up between Golar and US private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.

Golar LNG shares had plunged more than 30 percent, on 26th of September 2020, when Hygo Energy was caught up briefly in a Brazilian corruption investigation.

Previous crisis

Golar’s stock fell after news emerged of Hygo Energy Chief Executive Eduardo Antonello being involved in a probe into certain activities before he had joined Hygo Energy. Antonello later stepped down from Hygo Energy over the controversy.

The corporate crisis came at a time when Hygo Energy was expanding its LNG-for-power projects in northeast Brazil. The business was subsequently purchased by NFE, led by its high-profile CEO Wes Edens.

The Golar assets sales deals involved NFE taking over Golar’s US unit, Golar LNG Partners. and the Hygo Energy stake.

The transactions were valued at the time at more than $5 billion in cash and assets and turned NFE into the leading gas-to-power company in Brazil while providing LNG shipping assets and experience.

NFE already had projects in Jamaica and Puerto Rico and later started LNG import ventures in Mexico and Nicaragua.

New Fortress Energy Inc., the US company with LNG-to-power projects in South America, the Caribbean and Sri Lanka in Asia, has executed a 15-year natural gas supply agreement in Brazil.

New Fortress signed the deal with a subsidiary of Norsk Hydro ASA for the supply of natural gas to the Alunorte Alumina Refinery in the northern Brazilian state of Pará.

New York-based New Fortress said it was advancing two Brazilian projects, one in Barcarena for Norsk Hydro and a second in Santa Catarina in southern Brazil.

The company said it was also positioned to supply LNG through the Santa Catarina terminal for power plants with more than 400 megawatts of capacity from the second quarter of 2022.

“The long-term partnership between Hydro and NFE will greatly benefit the state of Pará and Barcarena community,” said Wes Edens, Chairman and Chief Executive of New Fortress.

“Supply of natural gas from NFE’s Barcarena LNG terminal will support Hydro in shifting Alunorte to cleaner fuels and will significantly advance Brazil’s energy transition,” added Edens.

Under the GSA, New Fortress has agreed to supply Hydro with the equivalent to around 1 million gallons of LNG per day to the refinery from the company’s Barcarena LNG receiving and regasification facility.

Emissions targets

New Fortress said the conversion from oil-based fuel supply to natural gas will reduce the refinery’s annual carbon-dioxide emissions by an estimated 700,000 tonnes per annum and support Hydro's greenhouse-gas emissions reduction target.

“We are committed to invest in developing the world’s largest alumina refinery, and to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions,” said John Thuestad, Executive Vice President for Hydro Bauxite and Alumina.

“The fuel switch is a milestone in our sustainability strategy and an important demonstration of our commitment to support local development in Pará state,” added Thuestad.

When completed in 2022, New Fortress said that the Barcarena terminal was expected to be the sole point of LNG imports in the state of Pará and the North region of Brazil.

“The terminal will support industrial development and reduce emissions and pollution in the environmentally sensitive Amazon region by providing a cleaner, affordable and reliable alternative to oil-based fuels,” New Fortress explained.

In its Asian activities, New Fortress recently agreed to invest in West Coast Power Ltd , the owner of the 310-megawatts Yugadanavi Power Plant based in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo while also developing an LNG facility off the coast.

As part of that transaction, New Fortress will have gas supply rights to the Kerawalapitya Power Complex, where 310 MW of power is operational now and an additional 700 MW is scheduled to be built, of which 350 MW will be operational by 2023.

New Fortress Energy, the US operator and developer of liquefied natural gas projects in the Americas, has reached an agreement for LNG supply that will cover the needs of the existing gas-to-power businesses in Central America and the Caribbean through to the end of 2027, though was still seeking additional volumes for its Brazilian ventures.

New Fortress Energy Inc, the New York-based company with a growing LNG projects portfolio in Latin America and the Caribbean, has entered into two deals with a combined value of $5 billion, one to acquire Golar LNG Partners and a second to take over Hygo Energy Transition, a Brazil-focused joint venture owned by Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and shipping company Golar LNG Ltd.

Golar LNG Partners and Golar Power have entered into a cooperation agreement whereby the parties intend to work together to develop floating LNG terminal hubs.