LNG

Golar LNG Ltd, the shipping company now specialising in a small but growing fleet of floating liquefied natural gas production and import project vessels, said the “Hilli Episeyo” had seen its 100th cargo lifted from offshore Cameroon in West Africa.

New Fortress Energy (NFE), the US LNG-for-power project developer has reached an agreement with shipping company Golar LNG for the sale of NFE’s ownership stake in a floating LNG production hull deployed off Cameroon in West Africa.

New Fortress Energy Inc, the expanding LNG terminals, production, shipping and power assets owner, has entered a joint venture valued at $2 billion with New York-based asset management firm Apollo relating to floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) in the LNG sector and opening up a long-term financing arrangement.

New Fortress signed the deal to sell LNG infrastructure vessels it owns to the newly formed joint company whereby 80 percent would be held by Apollo funds and 20 percent by NFE.

“This transaction will create a global marine infrastructure platform underpinned by long-term contracts, benefitting from NFE's LNG downstream operations and development activities, as well as Apollo's leading investment and maritime experience,” said a joint statement.

NFE’s existing fleet came from its acquisition in 2021 of Golar LNG Partners and its assorted FSRUs and LNG carriers.

“The platform provides critical infrastructure for the delivery, storage, and regasification of LNG to power countries around the world, which can reduce their reliance on oil and coal to lower carbon emissions,” it added.

The 11-vessel portfolio of the venture consists of six FSRUs, two conventional LNG carriers and three floating storage units (FSUs).

Charters

“The total implied enterprise value of the transaction is about $2Bln and NFE will receive around $1.1Bln in proceeds after accounting for NFE's share of the venture and paydown of existing debt,” the companies explained.

As part of the transaction, NFE has agreed to charter 10 of the 11 of the vessels from the Apollo-controlled venture for a period of up to 20 years commencing either upon close of the transaction or upon expiration of the existing third-party charter agreements of the vessels.

The venture will also seek “growth opportunities” in support of both NFE and third parties to support the energy transition and bolster energy security globally.

Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset management business focusing on select investment strategies.

“Together with Apollo, we are creating a leading LNG marine infrastructure platform to help accelerate the energy transition while freeing up capital to continue to invest into our ‘Fast LNG’ and downstream LNG projects worldwide,” declared Wes Edens. Chairman and Chief Executive of NFE.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Apollo in creating a maritime infrastructure company that will help support NFE's growing LNG infrastructure needs going forward,” he added.

Apollo Partner Brad Fierstein said he was pleased to help further the initiatives of NFE in the LNG business through long-term investment.

“This is a high-quality portfolio that increases energy security around the world, accelerates decarbonization efforts, and facilitates LNG use which is cleaner and more affordable than diesel,” stated Fierstein.

NFE and Apollo said they expected to transaction to be finalised in the third quarter of 2022.

“Transaction proceeds are expected to be utilized to fund NFE's FLNG projects. as well as for ongoing downstream infrastructure and general corporate purposes,” the statement added.

Pemex deal

NFE recently signed an agreement with Mexico’s national energy company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to form a strategic partnership including a floating LNG project in the Gulf of Mexico.

The agreement involves the joint development of the Lakach deepwater natural gas field for Pemex to supply natural gas to Mexico’s onshore domestic market and for NFE to produce LNG for export to global markets.

The US company will produce the LNG using its own “Fast LNG” design offshore.

NFE’s “Fast LNG” pairs modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs or similar floating infrastructure to enable a much lower cost and faster deployment schedule than floating liquefaction vessels.

The US company is additionally involved in other FLNG ventures, including one offshore the US Gulf state of Louisiana and another offshore the Republic of Congo in West Africa.

NFE is also advancing LNG-for-power projects in nations like Mexico, Nicaragua and Brazil as well as in the Caribbean and in Sri Lanka in Asia. 

Avenir LNG, the Norwegian-listed small-scale LNG project developer and vessel owner, has entered into a long-term joint cooperation agreement (JCA) with Shanghai SIPG Energy Service Co.(SSES) a Chinese joint venture between Shanghai International Port Group and Shenergy Group.

New Fortress Energy has announced a cash distribution by Golar LNG Partners, an indirect subsidiary of New Fortress, the New York-based LNG-for-power company.

Avenir LNG, the small-scale LNG supplier with an import terminal on the Italian island of Sardinia and a small fleet of vessels, has just reported a positive operating profit for the first nine months of 2021.

Golar LNG said it entered into swap arrangements to hedge part of its Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) price exposure for the incremental 200,000 tonnes per annum from Train 3 production on the “FLNG Hilli Episeyo” from the first quarter of 2022 at a price of $28 per million British thermal units.

GasLog Ltd, the operator of a fleet of 35 LNG carriers, has completed its merger transaction with the infrastructure unit of the giant US asset management firm BlackRock and the company has now been taken private.

New Fortress Energy, the LNG-for-power developer in Latin America and in the South American nation of Brazil, has asked a US Federal Appeals Court to review a decision of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to force the New York-based firm to seek a permit for an LNG import terminal in Puerto Rico already on line.

Empire Petroleum Corp. of Oklahoma has completed the acquisition of 700 natural gas, oil and injector wells from ExxonMobil Corp. located in 40,000 net acres of legacy leaseholds in the US Permian Basin of New Mexico in the latest of a 2020-2021 wave of mergers and acquisitions in the energy sector, including LNG.