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, increased annual and quarterly earnings because of new charters in Finland and Germany and increased gas sales.

The Texas-based company reported net income of $126.8 million for the full year 2023, up from $80M in 2022.

For the fourth quarter net income was $122.68M, an increase on the $33.9M posted in the same three months of 2022.

However, Excelerate’s revenues for the year decreased to $1.16 billion from $2.47Bln in the previous year as natural gas prices dropped.

Gas Sales

The company said that income and adjusted gross earnings for the year increased primarily due to new charters in Finland and Germany, higher rates on charters in Brazil, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates and higher direct margins on gas sales and lower operating lease expense due to the acquisition of the “FSRU Sequoia’, partially offset by drydocking expense for the “FSRU Excellence”.

Excelerate explained that net Income and gross earnings in the fourth quarter decreased from the previous third quarter primarily due to drydocking expenses related to the “FSRU Excellence” and spot LNG cargo sales during that period did not reoccur.

In commercial updates in January 2024, Excelerate noted that a 15-year LNG sales and purchase agreement was signed with QatarEnergy.

Under the accord, Excelerate will purchase between 850,000 and 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Qatar on a delivered ex-ship basis beginning in January 2026.

“This contract is expected to provide reliable LNG supply for Excelerate’s previously announced SPA with Petrobangla in Bangladesh,” the company explained.

Excelerate had signed a long-term LNG SPA in November 2023 with Petrobangla for the volumes later secured from Qatar.

Bangaldesh plans

Excelerate will deliver to Bangladesh 850,000 MTPA of LNG in 2026 and 2027 and 1 MTPA from 2028 to 2040.

The take-or-pay LNG volumes are expected to be delivered through Excelerate’s two existing floating terminals in the West Asian nation, the “Excellence” and the “Summit LNG” FSRUs.

Excelerate has additionally signed a 20-year SPA for volumes from the Louisiana LNG projects of Gulf Coast developer and exporter Venture Global.

“The consistent earnings contribution from our core regasification business and the solid performance of our contracts in Brazil highlighted the unique potential of earnings our integrated strategy,” said Steven Kobos, President and Chief Executive of Excelerate.

“In 2024, Excelerate is committed to moving from strategy to action. We remain focused on executing our growth strategy and optimizing our business to deliver superior returns for our shareholders,” Kobos stated.

Excelerate’s full-year earnings per share rose to $1.11 per share from $0.51 per share in 2022.

The Excelerate Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase programme under which the company may repurchase up to $50M of its outstanding Class A common stock through February 2026. 

Excelerate Energy Inc., the specialist US company for LNG floating storage and regasification projects from South America to the Nordic region and South Asia, has posted strong earnings as its cargo trading portfolio continues to grow.

Excelerate Energy, the leading US provider of floating LNG import terminals, said its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the “Exemplar”, arrived at the port of Inkoo, in Finland to become a Baltic regional supplier of natural gas.

The FSRU was previously loaded with a partial cargo of LNG which would serve as the initial commissioning cargo for the terminal.

The FSRU “Exemplar” has been chartered to Gasgrid Finland Oy for a period of 10 years.

“It will provide flexible, reliable, and secure delivery of regasified LNG to Finland and other Baltic countries,” said Excelerate.

Inkoo port is located on the Southern Coast of Finland and provides an optimal deepwater port at close proximity to the pipelines distributing the gas mainly to industrial end-users in the Baltic region.

The developer had made the move to enable independence from Russian pipeline natural gas.

The FSRU capacity alone is sufficient for the gas needs of both Finland and Estonia. Russian gas supplies through the Imatra entry point into Finland have been stopped since May 2022.

Finland already has two onshore LNG terminals at Pori and Tornio. They have been in operation since 2016 and 2018 respectively.

Infrastructure

“The arrival of the FSRU ‘Exemplar’ at the port of Inkoo represents an important milestone for Finland as it prepares to enhance its energy security and bring essential energy infrastructure to the region,” said Steven Kobos, President and Chief Executive of Excelerate.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for everyone involved, and we are proud to have partnered with Gasgrid on this opportunity,” added Kobos.

In addition to providing regasification services under the time charter with Gasgrid, Excelerate said that through its recently formed Finnish gas marketing subsidiary, Excelerate Finland Gas Marketing, the US firm has executed an agreement for the sale of commissioning volumes and regasification capacity rights during the commissioning phase.

“Through this agreement, Excelerate Finland will be able to provide natural gas to downstream customers in Finland and other Baltic countries,” explained the Houston-based company.

Excelerate explained that the FSRU “Exemplar” departed drydock in Spain on December 6 where it underwent customer-requested winterization upgrades.

“The vessel subsequently procured its cargo from Excelerate’s global LNG portfolio via a ship-to-ship transfer with the FSRU ‘Excelsior’ near Gibraltar,” said the company.

“The ‘Excelsior’ recently completed its 10-year service in Israel and will go on charter to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2023,” it added.

The FSRU “Exemplar” is 291 metres long and 43 meters wide. It has a storage capacity of 150,900 cubic metres of LNG and can provide more than 5 billion cubic metres per annum of regasification capacity.

Excelerate Energy, the US floating LNG import terminal specialist, signed a five-year charter agreement in Berlin with the German Government for the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) “Excelsior”.

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.

Excelerate Energy, the US specialist and a market leader in floating storage and regasfication units (FSRUs), is preparing an initial public offering that will help test the appetite of investors for shares in the natural gas sector of the energy transition.

Excelerate has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to debut its shares and will be circulating a prospectus.

Excelerate intends to list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “EE.”

Excelerate is based in The Woodlands in Houston in Texas and is part of a privately held US energy group founded by George Kaiser, owner of the Bank of Oklahoma.

The company has an operating fleet of 10 LNG FSRUs and is the pioneer of over a dozen import projects worldwide.

Execerate has also led the way in ship-to-ship LNG transfers as it started terminal operations in South America, the US, Europe and Asia.

“The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering are subject to market conditions and have not yet been determined,” said Excelerate in a statement.

Three banks have been nominated to serve as joint lead book-running managers for the proposed offering, Barclays of the UK and US investment banks J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley.

“The displacement of dirtier fossil fuels and the natural complement of LNG to a fast-growing renewables sector makes flexible floating LNG products, such as those provided by Excelerate, a part of the solution to decarbonization,” the company says.

In its latest terminal project Excelerate will help to stabilize the flow of supplies to Brazil through 2022 with a deal to deploy one of its existing FSRUs to the port of Salvador in the northeast state of Bahia.

Under the agreement with the South American country’s state-owned oil and gas company Petróleo Brasileiro Excelerate’s FSRU “Excelerate Sequoia” will supply up to 700 million cubic feet per day of regasified LNG.

Excelerate Energy, the US floating LNG import terminal company, is helping to stabilize the flow of supplies to Brazil through 2022 with a deal to deploy one of its existing floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) to the port of Salvador in the northeast state of Bahia.

Excelerate Energy, the US specialist in floating LNG import terminals, has signed an accord with two European grid and distribution firms on developing a pipeline and possibly storage to help serve the proposed Vlora import terminal in the Balkans state of Albania.

The project accord was signed between Excelerate, Italian grid operator Snam and Albanian utility Albgaz .

Excelerate in March 2021 signed an agreement with Albania to study the potential of LNG imports and backed by ExxonMobil Corp.

The Excelerate-ExxonMobil proposal was for a feasibility study on developing an LNG import terminal at the Port of Vlora in southern Albania.

Under that accord, Excelerate would conduct a study to explore the potential of an integrated LNG-for-power solution for the Albanians.

This would include developing an LNG import terminal, converting or expanding the existing Vlora thermal power plant and establishing small-scale LNG distribution in Albania and for the surrounding Balkans region.

Under this new memorandum of understanding, Excelerate, Snam, and Albgaz will examine various projects that could also potentially include underground gas storage in Albania.

“Leveraging our downstream capabilities and working alongside Albania to explore expanding their access to reliable energy, we are able to take an integral step towards energy security for the country," stated Steven Kobos, President and Chief Executive of Excelerate.

“Together with Snam and Albgaz, we recognize the potential impact this pipeline can have for the region,” added Kobos.

As the leader in floating LNG regasification solutions, Excelerate has delivered 13 LNG terminals worldwide. 

Snam is one of Europe's largest energy infrastructure owners and a leading shareholder in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) while Albgaz is an Albanian Gas Service Company.

“This MOU further strengthens our commitment with Albania initiated four years ago," said Mario Franchin, Senior Vice President Global Solutions Commercial at Snam.

“It marks another important step forward in the development of Albania's energy strategy and Snam is pleased to share its experience and know-how to support the country,” added Franchin.

Albgaz was founded in January 2017 as a joint stock company with 100 percent of the shares owned by the Albanian state and is a transmission system operator and natural gas distributor.

Excelerate Energy, the experienced US floating liquefied natural gas import project company, has signed an accord with the European Balkans country of Albania to study the potential of LNG imports and backed by ExxonMobil Corp.

Excelerate Energy, the US floating LNG import pioneer that employed the most respected woman in the energy sector, the Notre Dame-educated and late Kathleen Eisbrenner, has promoted two more woman senior executives, both of whom have Middle East oil and gas experience.