LNG

Dynagas LNG Partners, the owner of six liquefied natural gas carriers and mostly involved in Russian cargo liftings, reported an increase in net income for 2022.

Cool Company Ltd, the LNG shipping joint venture owned by Eastern Pacific Shipping, one major shareholder and investors who bought into an initial public offering, is moving forward with plans for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange and will require a temporary trading suspension.

CoolCo is becoming a speciality LNG fleet owner after arranging the phased acquisition of the company’s initial eight tri-fuel, diesel-electric (TFDE) LNG carriers in 2022.

There was then also a subsequent asset acquisition of four LNG carriers on November 10, 2022, from an affiliate of Eastern Pacific Shipping.

Prior to the listing on the NYSE, Coolco additionally altered its ownership structure as Golar LNG sold its stake.

Prior to February 28, CoolCo's 53.68 million shares were split between 26.79M (49.9 percent) owned by Eastern Pacific, 22.43M (41.8 percent) publicly owned after the IPO and 4.46M shares (8.3 percent) held by Golar LNG Ltd.

Golar LNG then announced that it had sold 4.46M shares in CoolCo to Mi Hong Yoon, a member of the CoolCo board, at a price of 130 Norwegian crown ($12.5) per share and a total of over $55 million.

Coolco said that regarding the previous public filing of a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to list its common shares on the NYSE, the US regulatory review process has concluded.

“However, following this, the company has filed an acceleration request asking the SEC to declare its registration statement effective on March 14, 2023,” CoolCo explained.

Alterations

“In connection with the listing of the company’s shares on the NYSE and to facilitate the transfer of the company’s shares between the NYSE and Euronext Growth Oslo, the company will amend the registration structure for its shares,” said Hamilton, Bermuda-headquartered CoolCo.

The company noted that a trading suspension of the shares would be required in connection with the re-registration process.

Further, the company will change its ticker code on Euronext Growth Oslo from “COOL” to CLCO” when trading resumes following the trading suspension.

Coolco is currently finalizing the administrative processes in relation to the re-registration.

“Once these processes are concluded, the company will confirm the dates for the expected trading suspension and the listing date,” it added.

Dynagas LNG Partners, the owner of six LNG carriers and mostly involved in Russian cargo liftings, posted a 22 percent increase in quarterly net income even as ownership issues arose because of the Ukraine war and the German Government prolonged control of Gazprom charters.

Dynagas LNG Partners, the owner of six LNG carriers and mostly involved in Russian cargo liftings, has confirmed in its latest earnings report that three of its carrier charters are now controlled by the German government because they were under contract to Russian natural gas company Gazprom.

Sovcomflot, the Russian shipping line with an overall fleet of 145 vessels, said its LNG carrier, the “Christophe De Margerie”, reached Cape Dezhnev in Russia’s Far East to complete the earliest annual eastbound voyage carrying a cargo along the Northern Sea Route.

Oct 7 (LNG) – One of the world’s main LNG shipping-focused conferences, Capital Link’s Annual New York Maritime Forum, is taking place on a virtual basis over two days on October 14-15. The conference will feature senior executives from 50 leading maritime companies, financiers and industry participants. The event is organized in partnership with DNB ASA, Norway’s largest bank and in cooperation with Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange. Registration for the event is complimentary.

   “The digital format of the event this year transforms NYMF into a truly global event,” said the organizers. The Forum has been held in New York City for the past 11 years and covers liquefied petroleum gas and LNG issues in the international shipping markets. Speakers next week include: Tony Lauritzen, Chief Executive of LNG fleet owner Dynagas LNG Partners, Oyestein Kalleklev, CEO of Flex LNG and Mark Kremin, President and CEO of Teekay LNG Partners.

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) from Arctic Russia to North Asia has reopened earlier than in recent years, providing scope for LNG shipments to be re-directed from the Atlantic Basin to Pacific Basin as prices remain low, though are rising faster in Asia.

The NSR is officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Novaya Zemlya archipelago and specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from the Kara Sea to the Bering Strait to enter the Northern Pacific Ocean.

The 172,600 cubic metres capacity Arctic-class LNG carrier “Christophe de Margerie” left the Yamal LNG export plant in Northern Siberia, operated by Novatek, on May 18 and is scheduled to arrive at the Chinese Tangshan import terminal on June 11 after a transit of 23 days.

The Tangshan terminal is in the northern Chinese Hebei province and is operated by PetroChina.

Shipping data shows that the “Christophe de Margerie” is accompanied by another tanker and two nuclear-powered ice-breakers, the “Yamal” and the “Vaygach”.

It is only in recent years that the NSR has started to be used earlier by LNG carriers pushing ahead to deliver cargoes to North Asia.

The 172,600 cubic metres capacity LNG carrier “Vladimir Rusanov” was the first vessel to use the NSR in 2019, having lifted a cargo at the Yamal plant in mid-June.

However, the “Vladimir Rusanov” is in Western European waters and scheduled to discharge a cargo on May 24 at the Montoir-de-Bretagne terminal in Western France.

According to analysts, the early availability of the NSR, coupled with a slowly opening Europe-Asia LNG arbitrage window - at historically low values - will result in a redirection of many Yamal cargoes away from Europe and to be pointed at North Asia.

Three other carriers are currently heading back to the Yamal plant's port at Sabetta from Europe and at least one could lift an Asia cargo.

They are the two 172,000 cubic metres capacity vessels, the “Georgiy Brusilov” and the “Vladimir Vize”, and the 172,600 cubic metres capacity carrier “Vladimir Voronin”, with arrivals scheduled before the end of May, according to shipping data.

The re-opening of the NSR comes as the Platts Japan-Korea Marker spot cargo price for North Asia cargoes for July is at $2.280 per million British thermal units and at $2.425 per MMBtu for August, higher than several weeks ago.

That’s as the European LNG price indicators, the UK National Balancing Point and the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, were lower at the equivalents on May 20 of $1.40 per MMBtu and $1.55 per MMBtu respectively.

There is currently a wider debate in Russia about accommodating much more energy shipping traffic on the NSR as usage increases.

Russian oil company Rosneft is progressing with the development of its Vostok Oil Project, a venture that is projected to deliver 25 million tons of shipments from a special seaport via the NSR by 2024.

The oil project is based on the development of several fields, including at least three in the Vankor area.

Vostok Oil will also include the development of 15 new industry towns, two airports and about 800 kilometres of new pipelines.

The traditional NSR that has been the main reference point in Russian Arctic shipping is now being debated by the government.

Growth in shipments on a wider route have been rising. Russian government data shows that in 2019, a total of 31.5 million tons of shipments were transported on the NSR, an increase of over 55 percent from 2018.

Most of the extra shipments were LNG from the Yamal plant.

Now the Russian government is referring to the Northern Sea Transport Corridor and has drawn up a report on increasing traffic volumes.

According to the Association of Sea Trade Ports, the transport corridor will be clearly referred to in the new Russian Arctic Strategy, a document that now awaits approval by the government.

The document has been written by the Russian Ministry of the Far East and Arctic and was submitted to the government on 7th of May 2020. The strategy covers the period until 2035.