LNG

Excelerate Energy Inc., the specialist US company for LNG floating storage and regasification projects from South America to the Nordic region and South Asia, reported steady earnings after a quarter marked by further deals in Qatar and Brazil.

Fortum, the Finnish energy and power company with European Union-wide operations and that was forced to give up the German natural gas and energy supplier Uniper which had relied on Russian pipeline supplies from Gazprom, has returned to profits and gave an overview of current EU energy markets and prices.

Nov 6 (LNGJ) - Finnish state-run energy company Gasum has delivered a Norwegian-supplied LNG cargo to Finland’s Inkoo floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) facility to be fed into the nation’s gas pipeline grid. This is the second LNG cargo Gasum has delivered to the Inkoo FRSU since the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and the state of Estonia suffered a rupture and was shut down in early October.

   Gasum explained that repairs to the pipeline are expected to take at least five months and until then all all Finnish natural gas demand must be met through imports of LNG. “We are working hard to secure supply of natural gas over the coming winter season to our customers, whose operations depend on a steady supply of gas,” said Jouni Liimatta, Head of Trading and Optimizing at Gasum. “It is a challenging situation, but we already have experience from rebuilding our pipeline natural gas supply chain after natural gas imports from Russia were suspended in 2022,” Liimatta added.

Excelerate Energy, the leading US-based LNG terminal provider in the form of floating storage and regasification units, reported much improved third-quarter results and higher future earnings prospects as projects advanced for Germany and Finland.

Excelerate posted net income for the three months to the end of September of $37.3 million compared with $1.4M in the 2021 quarter.

Revenues for Excelerate in the quarter showed a more than four-fold increase to $803.3M versus $192.1M in the same period last year.

The Texas-based company later confirmed at the end of the quarter the start of the charter process for a project serving Finland and the Baltic state of Estonia.

The Texas-based company also signed a definitive agreement to deploy the FSRU “Excelsior” to Germany for five years.

Excelerate’s “Exemplar’ completed another winter season delivering LNG regasification services to Argentina and in August departed the port of Bahia Blanca and sailed to Europe for maintenance and winterization.

Finland project

The FSRU “Exemplar” was first delivered in 2010 and is 291 metres in length and with a beam of 43 metres and capacity of 151,000 cubic metres.

“Finland’s charter hire commenced in October and winterization upgrades for the ‘Exemplar’ are ongoing,” said Excelerate.

“The ‘Exemplar’ is currently undergoing customer-requested winterization upgrades during a technical stop at the Navantia shipyard in Ferrol (northwest Spain),” said Excelerate

Excelerate and Gasgrid Finland previously announced an executed 10-year, time charter party agreement for Excelerate to provide LNG regasification services, which are expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2022.

For the German agreement, the “Excelsior” is expected to provide regasification services at Germany’s planned LNG import terminal being developed at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven by developer Tree Energy Solutions and the German and French utilities E.ON and Engie.

“Excelerate previously announced that the company and Engie signed a term sheet for the deployment of an FSRU to provide flexible and secure LNG regasification capacity for Germany as it continues to seek alternatives to Russian pipeline gas supply,” said Excelerate.

The US company also recently ordered an FSRU newbuild from Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea to be set for hire in the second quarter of 2026.

Earnings overview

The company’s adjusted earnings increased over the prior quarter due to lower idle fuel costs, lower repair and maintenance expenses and higher margins from the Bahia Blanca seasonal charter in Argentina.

Excelerate said this was partially offset by an increase in expenses primarily driven by higher consulting costs to support the company’s transition to a public company structure, along with higher spending related to business development and marketing activities.

“Excelerate delivered another great quarter, demonstrating the strength of our flexible business model against the backdrop of the most significant energy market disruption in decades,” said President and Chief Executive Steven Kobos.

“We are successfully executing our strategy to deploy our flexible LNG infrastructure and pursue downstream opportunities to expand our reach in both new and existing markets,” added Kobos.

“Our portfolio approach to managing our FSRU fleet provides us with a unique ability to deliver the best solutions that scale with our customers’ needs in both developed and emerging markets,” stated the CEO.

The company added that it was increasing its full-year 2022 guidance range.

Adjusted gross earnings are now expected to range between $264M and $274M, up from $249M and $269M.

May 20 (LNGJ) - Excelerate Energy, the US floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) specialist, has signed a 10-year contract in Helsinki to deploy the 150,900 cubic metres capacity FSRU “Exemplar” to supply LNG to Finland, Estonia and the Baltic Sea region.

   Excelerate President and Chief Executive Steven Kobos, Gasgrid Finland CEO Olli Sipilä and Gasgrid Finland Chairman Kai-Petteri Purhonen signed the contract at the Government Palace in Helsinki in a ceremony also attended by Finnish Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko and US Ambassador to Finland Douglas Hickey. “Flexible access to LNG is a critical component of European energy security,” said Kobos. “We are honored to collaborate with Gasgrid Finland to deliver essential energy infrastructure that will benefit Finland and more broadly the Baltic Sea region,” added the Excelerate CEO.

April 26 (LNGJ) - Gasum, the Finnish state-owned liquefied natural gas provider to the Nordic countries and with stakes in two small-scale LNG import terminals in Finland, has obtained a distribution licence for the Belgian LNG fuel market. “The distribution licence allows Gasum to expand its supply network and guarantees safe and high-quality deliveries of LNG to customers bunkering in Belgium,” said Gasum.

   “The new LNG distribution licence will allow Gasum to deliver LNG to maritime customers in Belgium, expanding its supply network in Northwest European ports and waters,” said the company. “The licence includes the important port of Zeebrugge, which is one of Europe’s leading pure car/truck carrier hubs. The number of LNG-powered car/truck carriers is growing rapidly, subsequently increasing the global demand for maritime LNG,” explained Gasum.

Finland has drawn up plans to charter a liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in cooperation with its fellow European Union and Baltic Sea regional neighbour Estonia.

The PX Group, which operates the UK St. Fergus Gas Terminal and Teesside Gas Processing Plant, has been appointed by North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP) to run its recently acquired small-scale Risavika LNG liquefaction plant in Norway.

PX Group, which specializes in providing services in the process, energy and chemical sectors, is currently responsible for processing around 30 percent of the UK’s gas supply and operates many of the UK’s key strategic sites on behalf of clients.

“The represents PX Group’s first significant operations contract outside of the UK,” said Chief Executive Geoff Holmes.

NSMP acquired the Risavika LNG plant, located in southwest Norway near Stavanger, in November 2021.

The Risavika facility has a capacity of 300,000 tonnes of LNG per annum and operates predominantly on electricity produced from renewable sources.

The plant was formerly owned by Gasum of Finland and uses feed gas from offshore Norway to supply the LNG maritime fuel and truck transportation markets.

The PX Group said it had set up a new operating entity in Norway, PX Norge AS.

NSMP closed the deal to buy the Risavika plant on November 16.

NSMP agreed with Gasum an extensive tolling agreement under which Gasum would continue to ensure deliveries of LNG and liquefied biogas (LBG) to its customers from the Risavika facility.

The separate bunkering solution, serving maritime customers, is not included in the scope of the NSMP-Gasum transaction and both parties agreed at the time not to disclose the transaction price.

PX Group CEO Holmes added that his company was delighted to be joining NSMP at Risavika.

“It is exciting for PX Group on a number of levels, not least because it represents PX Group’s expanding international footprint. It’s also our first major LNG site, which is in our capability sweet spot,” stated Holmes.

“LNG plays a critical role in the energy mix and is a component in the transition to lower-carbon sources of energy for sectors such as maritime,” said the CEO.

Deltamarin has signed an agreement with China Merchants Industry (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. for the design and engineering of a new series of Höegh Autoliners Aurora-class Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs) with LNG fuel capability.

Gasum, the Finnish state-run natural gas company and leading Nordic LNG supplier, reported a loss amid higher revenues as it was hit by gas price derivatives issues.