LNG

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.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the owner of the world renowned New York Stock Exchange and platforms for trading global oil and gas futures such as the US Henry Hub, North Sea Brent crude and the Dutch Title Transfer Facility for LNG and natural gas, has signed an accord for dual listing with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd, the new name of Australian LNG plants operator Woodside Petroleum, and BHP Group have formally completed the merger of Woodside with BHP’s oil and gas portfolio to create a global energy company.

As a result of the merger, Woodside said it was a top 10 global independent energy company by hydrocarbon production and the largest energy company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Woodside said the larger, more diversified portfolio was expected to deliver significant cash flow to help fund committed projects and shareholder returns.

Woodside Chief Executive Meg O’Neill said completion of the merger was one of the most significant events in Woodside’s 67-year history and marked the start of a new chapter for the company.

Diverse portfolio

“The merger delivers a diverse portfolio of quality operating assets, plus a suite of growth opportunities across oil, gas and new energy that promises ongoing value for our shareholders,” stated O’Neill.

Woodside has acquired the entire share capital of BHP Petroleum International and issued 914.76 million new Woodside shares to BHP, which BHP will distribute to its eligible shareholders.

Woodside will receive net cash of about US$1 billion, which includes the cash remaining in the BHPP bank accounts immediately prior to completion.

This reflects $1.8Bln of net cash flows generated by BHPP between the effective date of 1 July 2021 and completion, less $800 million representing BHP’s entitlement to cash dividends paid by Woodside over the same period.

All completion payment entitlements are subject to a customary post-completion review which may result in an adjustment.

The new Woodside shares start trading on the ASX on 2 June 2022. Trading of Woodside American Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange would commence on the same date.

London trading

Woodside shares will be traded on the main market of the London Stock Exchange on 6 June 2022.

The company has commenced activities to integrate the two organisations, including standardisation of reporting across all jurisdictions.

Woodside said the updated production guidance, reserves position and other related information will be released in due course.

Woodside’s net profit after tax for the first half of 2022 will incorporate the contribution of the BHPP portfolio from completion and the accounting treatment of the BHPP portfolio will align with Woodside’s policies.

“We are focused on unlocking pre-tax annual synergies of more than $400 million as we merge the two businesses,” said O’Neill.

“It is exciting to welcome the BHP Petroleum team to Woodside Energy and start delivering on our shared vision for the future,” she added. 

Cheniere Energy, the operator of the now enlarged Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana with six liquefaction Trains and the Corpus Christi facility in Texas, has seen its shares rise to all-time highs and become a favoured stock for investment fund managers.

The Cheniere Energy shares, listed on the New York Stock Exchange American board, have hit a low in the past year of  $65.23 a share and have since risen to an all-time high of $121.31 per share.

The shares have the ticker LNG:US and were last at $120.25 per share.

The latest price gave the Houston, Texas-based company a market capitalization of $30.5 billion.

Cheniere, whose next LNG expansion plans are for the Corpus Christi plant in Texas, has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.30.

The company now has 40.5 million tonnes per annum of export capacity and will take this to more than 50.5 MTPA in about four or five years.

Cheniere is now focusing on the Corpus Christi expansion, known as Stage 3 and comprising the construction of seven mid-scale liquefaction Trains adjacent to the existing facility.

Additional Trains

The mid-scale Trains will add nameplate capacity of almost 10 MTPA to the 13.5 MTPA from the three larger existing Corpus Christi Trains, each producing 4.5 MTPA.

In recent Security and Exchange Commission filings, institutional investors, among the many invested in Cheniere, have shown that some have bought more shares in the company.

Blackstone Inc., the New York-based global investment business, lifted its stake in Cheniere by 0.9 percent and now owns over 12.4M shares valued at $1.48 billion.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake by 1.3 percent during the third quarter. It now owns 5.74M shares valued at around $689M.

Among foreign investors, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp. of Japan, the largest bank in the world by assets, lifted its stake in Cheniere by 41.3 percent during the third quarter.

Mitsubishi UFJ now owns 2.64M shares of the energy company’s stock valued at about $316.8M.

Shares in Golar LNG, the carrier fleet operator and project developer, plunged 32 percent on the Nasdaq global exchange after one of its associates was caught up in a Brazilian corruption investigation involving another company.

Golar LNG Chairman Olav Troim apologized to shareholders about the recent earnings disappointments and expressed confidence about strategy and the key role of natural gas in the energy mix for many years to come, leading to a rise in the two Golar shares listed on the Nasdaq global exchange, one by more than 5 percent.

Nov 15 (LNGJ) - Golar LNG, the Norwegian fleet owner and project developer now operating out of Hamilton, Bermuda, is increasing the size of a previously announced share offering by 800,000 shares to 6.5 million shares. Golar also priced the offering at $23.50 per share. As part of the offering, the underwriters are selling 212,765 of the common shares to a member of the Golar board at the public offering price. The company granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 975,000 shares. The proceeds are expected to be just over $150 million and will partly fund the settlement of outstanding convertible bond borrowings. The share offer, scheduled to close on November 18, has Citigroup as the sole book-running manager, with brokers Clarksons Platou Securities, Danske Markets and Evercore ISI acting as joint lead managers.