LNG

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.

Kanfer Shipping AS, one of the leading companies for small-scale gas solutions based in Norway, has signed an accord on establishing an attractive hub for liquefied natural gas bunkering and small-scale LNG distribution in and out of the Central American nation of Panama.

Algeria plans to export liquefied natural gas to Asia and South America after the refurbishment of the Skikda liquefaction and export plant on the North African nation’s Mediterranean coast with new storage facilities and a larger jetty to be constructed by a consortium of Chinese contractors.

Toufik Hakkar, the Chief Executive of state-run Algerian oil and gas company Sonatrach, made the statement during a briefing following the signing on February 17 of an engineering contract for the Skikda LNG upgrade.

Sonatrach signed an agreement with two Chinese engineering companies to build a new LNG storage tank with 150,000 cubic metres capacity and to modernize the jetty and loading facilities.

The contract is with China’s Sinopec Luoyang Engineering Co.  (LPEC) and Sinopec International Petroleum Services Corp. (SIPS).

The work will also include the dismantling of two 20-year-old storage tanks at the Skikda facility.

The Skikda plant currently has 4.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG export capacity.

“The loading capacities and the capacities of the port of Skikda do not make it possible to supply the larger ships serving distant markets,” said Hakkar.

Renovation

“With the renovation of the port and the construction of this new storage tank, we will be able to go to these markets which constitute a strong added value,” explained the CEO, mentioning Asia and South America.

Sonatrach has several contracts for the Skikda plant, including one with TotalEnergies to supply 2 MTPA of LNG to the French market, primarily through the LNG terminal at Fos Cavaou near Marseille.

The agreement also includes the sub-charter of a TotalEnergies LNG carrier to Sonatrach.

The supplies for TotalEnergies are delivered ex-ship (DES) to Fos Cavaou through to December 2023.

“This engineering, procurement and construction contract is worth 25 billion Algerian dinars ($178 million) and will take 40 months to complete,” stated Hakkar.

The contract was signed by Sonatrach’s Director of Central Engineering and Project Management Farredj Aoudjehane and the SIPS General Manager in Algeria, Xu Zhenqiang.

“The agreement marks a new stage of cooperation between Sonatrach and Sinopec International Petroleum Services,” said Xu.

“During the implementation period, Sinopec will do its best to guarantee the completion of this project under the necessary safety conditions and with high quality within the set deadlines,” added the Chinese executive.

The Norwegian small-scale LNG business of Stolt-Nielsen and partners Höegh LNG and Golar LNG has taken delivery of another gas supply and bunkering vessel (LBV) from the Keppel Offshore and Marine shipyard in the Chinese port of Nantong.

The Nordic joint venture called Avenir LNG has named its second 7,500 cubic metres capacity dual-purpose LBV, the “Avenir Accolade”, and it is now available.

The company said the “Avenir Accolade” would enter a three-year bareboat charter to LNG Power Limited, a subsidiary of Hygo Energy Transition to support Hygo’s developments in northeast Brazil.

This is the Avenir joint venture’s first entry into the Latin American LNG market.

Stolt-Nielsen, whose headquarters are in London, started up the small-scale LNG sector firm Avenir in 2015 and its two main investors, Golar and Höegh, each have 22.5 percent of Avenir.

The company said that the “Avenir Accolade” would soon be delivering LNG to Hygo’s customers along the Brazilian coastline.

“Fitted with specialised LNG handling equipment, she will be capable of unloading LNG directly into trucks for onward distribution across Brazil,” said Avenir.

The Hygo company was formerly known as Golar Power and is being acquired by New York-Based New Fortress Energy.

In addition to the growing small-scale LNG fleet, Avenir has an 80 percent stake in a small-scale LNG import project on the Italian island of Sardinia and set to start up soon.

Peter Mackey, Chief Executive of Avenir, said the company strategy was progressing on schedule.

“This is a transformational year for Avenir LNG as we commission our onshore LNG terminal in Sardinia in the coming weeks and continue to expand our fleet with the addition of four more newbuild vessels by year-end,” Mackey explained.

Avenir’s largest bunkering vessel, the “Avenir Allegiance” with 20,000 cubic metres capacity, entered the water in January 2021 at the Zhoushan Changhong Sinopacific shipyard in China’s eastern Zheijang province.

That vessel is scheduled to be delivered from the yard in the third quarter of 2021 and will join the Avenir fleet as the world’s largest LNG bunkering vessel.

Avenir’s first newbuild delivery, the “Avenir Advantage”, took place in October 2020 and has now been followed by the “Avenir Accolade” with other newbuilds, including one named the “Avenir Allegiance”, lined up for delivery during 2021. 

Belgian shipping company Exmar, owner of the “Tango FLNG” barge from Argentina now up for re-charter, reported increased third-quarter consolidated earnings.

Exmar, based in the port of Antwerp, said its operating result came to $22 million in the three months to September compared with $21M in the same quarter of 2019.

The company’s gross quarterly earnings jumped to $58.8M from $27.4M in the prior-year quarter.

Exmar is led by Chief Executive Nicolas Saverys and also continues to manage 10 LNG floating storage and regasification units, though is not directly involved in regasification projects with former partner Excelerate Energy of the US.

The company said that its Midsize Gas Carriers business continued on its upward trend while pressurized-ships spot market was suffering due to low refinery activity.

Exmar announced in October that it had reached a settlement deal with Argentine oil and gas company YPF SA over the dispute under the “Tango FLNG” charter agreement that blew up in June 2020. The LNG production barge was now available for re-hire.

Under the accord, YPF has agreed to pay Exmar $150M in consideration of the early termination of their charter agreement and the withdrawal of arbitration proceedings.

The Belgian company's FLNG barge has production capacity of around 500,000 tonnes per annum. It was first deployed at the Bahia Blanca port in Argentina.

In addition to owning an LNG FSRU and its FLNG interests, Exmar owns and manages a fleet of almost 40 other vessels including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers.

The FLNG vessel, bullt at the Chinese Wison shipyard in Nantong, China, formally started its operations in Argentina in mid-2019 and a 10-year charter term began in September 2019.

Exmar said the “Tango FLNG” had delivered five shipments, or 624,000 cubic metres of LNG to date with an availability of 99 percent.

In its latest earnings, Exmar added that its infrastructure division posted an operating result of $4.1 compared with $700,000 in the same three months of last year.

The earnings had been “negatively affected” by the recognition of a provision of $16.4M on uncollected revenues from YPF for the “ Tango FLNG” barge.

However, the settlement deal will be reflected in fourth-quarter earnings for October to be published in 2021.

The loan agreement with Bank of China and Deutsche Bank with respect to the “Tango FLNG” financing foresees a replenishment of the Debt Service Reserve Account for an amount up to $40M, of which $22M has already been paid.

“The modalities for the payment of the balance are still under discussions,” added Exmar.

The company said that the FLNG barge was now being prepared for demobilization. “Commercial leads for new employment are actively being pursued,” stated Exmar.

A second Exmar vessel, a floating storage and regasfication unit, continues serving under a charter party with global commodities firm Gunvor, even though it is not yet deployed.

“Arbitration with respect to a dispute under the contract is ongoing without financial impact,” Exmar explained.

Peru LNG has shipped two cargoes so far to two pricing areas after its maintenance shutdown through most of August to two separate pricing areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Basins from its liquefaction facility at Pampa Melchorita, the only LNG export plant in South America.

May 23 (LNGJ) - Brazilian energy company Petrobras is in the market for delivered LNG cargoes as demand increases in South America where Argentina has also been a recent recipient of US volumes from Sabine Pass in Louisiana. A US cargo will be unloaded at the Argentine Bahia Blanca terminal in the southwest of the province of Buenos Aires on June 1. Brazil is a large user of hydropower generation, though when the dry season starts in April and May water levels fall as does electricity output from the system and gas-fired power is needed as a replacement. A Petrobras tender has sought two cargoes for delivery in June and two more shipments to arrive in July, according to the company.