LNG

Chart Industries Inc., the liquefied natural gas equipment-maker and industrial gas technology company, has sold a low-pressure compression and vacuum technologies company for $300 million in cash to the US group Ingersoll Rand.

Chart said the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, was expected to be completed in the third quarter.

As part of the transaction, Ingersoll Rand will assume ownership of the Roots manufacturing facility in Connersville, Indiana, which is dedicated to Roots products and will retain the 300 employees at Roots.

“We are excited to have executed a definitive agreement in the second quarter 2023 to sell Roots, which is another key step in accelerating our deleveraging plan while simultaneously allowing us to focus on our core strategic solution offering and integration efforts,” stated Jill Evanko, Chart’s Chief Executive and President.

“We also are thrilled that the business will be owned by Ingersoll Rand, a proven strategic partner and a company that will care for the Roots’ team members,” added Evanko.

Vicente Reynal, Chairman and Chief Executive of Ingersoll Rand, said he was pleased with the acquisition.

Benefits

“We have long admired Roots and are thrilled to add this iconic brand to our portfolio. This complementary acquisition expands our low-pressure compression and vacuum product offerings and is a great example of our partnership with Chart, where the acquisition was a win-win for both companies,” added Reynal.

Chart is also reiterating its full year 2023 anticipated outlook for revenue, adjusted gross earnings, adjusted earnings per share, free cash flow and operational cash flow available for debt paydown.

The company reported in May that first-quarter results were helped by LNG orders and additions from Chart’s acquisition of UK group Howden.

Chart’s first-quarter included strong starts for Chart and Howden with orders amounting to $747.7m, contributing to a record $3.9 billion backlog.

Additionally, Chart booked a “Big LNG” order from leading global liquefaction plant builder Bechtel for air-cooled heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers and ethylene storage tanks for Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur LNG project.

The company also listed an order for $115M for the IPSMR® liquefaction systems from the Chinese shipyard Wison Heavy Industry Co. for small-scale LNG projects all driven by Chart’s IPSMR® technology, including one for Italian oil and gas major and LNG project developer ENI.

A separate order was also made for brazed aluminum heat exchangers for a floating LNG application for $19.5M.

Chart said quarterly small-scale and floating LNG orders totalled $139M, which was a 263 percent increase for these types of orders when compared to the first quarter of 2022. 

Belgian shipping company Exmar, owner of the “Tango FLNG” barge last deployed in Argentina and now up for re-charter, reported annual gross cash flow from operations of US$239.9 million, including a $150M settlement fee paid by Argentine energy company YPF for the “Tango FLNG” charter cancellation.

Exmar said it was getting its finances back on track after payments from YPS and financing deals for other parts of its fleet.

Exmar, based in the port of Antwerp, said it still posted a loss of $7.8M for its operating result versus a profit of $14.5M in 2019.

“Earnings were negatively impacted by an impairment of $28.5M on older vessels,” explained Exmar.

“The year 2020 will be remembered as being dominated by the unprecedented pandemic which distorted economic activities worldwide and made big impacts on daily lives. The reality is that overall, seaborne gas markets fared relatively well,” stated Exmar.

Exmar’s FLNG vessel, built at the Chinese Wison shipyard in Nantong, China, formally started its operations at Bahia Blanca port in Argentina in mid-2019 and a 10-year charter term began in September 2019.

The Belgian company's FLNG barge has production capacity of around 500,000 tonnes per annum. 

“Since the effective termination of the contract with YPF in October 2020, marketing is in full swing and, given its status as a fully-proven facility, there is a healthy interest from the market for a ‘Tango FLNG’ redeployment,” said Exmar.

“The fact that the start of 2021 saw increased price levels of oil and gas globally will certainly benefit the opportunities for reactivation,” it stated.

The company added that the Exmar LNG carrier “Excalibur” was under a time-charter contract until early 2022.

Exmar also noted some highlights at the end of 2020 and the start of 2021, including the $40M replenishment a debt agreement with Bank of China and the refinancing of a bank facility with Nordea bank of Finland for Exmar’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) midsize fleet for an amount of $310M, of which $290M has been drawn.

Additionally, Exmar said that at the start of the first quarter of 2021 it signed lease financing for two Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs) under construction.

Exmar said its average time-charter equivalent rates for the midsize (38,115 cubic metres capacity) LPG fleet rose to $21,680 per day from $18,587 per day in 2019.

For VLGCs (83,300 cbm) it was $30,605 per day, up from $28,527 per day in the previous year.

Pressurized vessel (5,000 cbm) rates came to $7,865 versus $8,861 in 2019.

“Exmar will take delivery of two LPG-fuelled 88,000 cbm VLGC newbuildings, to be named ‘Flanders Innovation’ and ‘Flanders Pioneer’, in the second and third quarter of 2021 that will enter into a long-term time-charter to Equinor ASA (Norway),” said the company.

“These vessels were the first VLGCs ordered at the time with dual-fuel engines able to burn LPG on the main engine, substantially reducing emissions and underlining Exmar’s continued and consistent ability to innovate,” added Exmar.

Exmar, the Belgian shipping and projects company with more than 40 vessels in its fleet and now mostly focused on the liquefied petroleum gas business and LNG shipment management, said the Bank of China had finally released financing for the “Tango FLNG” production barge deployed in Argentina while the vessel itself was earning income as it liquefied shale gas from the Vaca Meurta Basin.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French technology firm for designs of systems for the maritime transportation and storage of liquefied natural gas, said it signed a technical and licensing agreement with Chinese shipbuilder Wison Offshore and Marine for a range of LNG vessels.

Exmar, the Belgian shipping line with floating liquefied natural gas interests, including the “Tango FLNG” production hull now deployed at the Argentine port of Bahia Blanca, has recorded a pre-tax loss as its business is restructured.

Wison Offshore and Marine, the Chinese shipbuilding company and builder of the first floating LNG production barge set to be deployed in Argentina, has received approval from the American Bureau of Shipping for its latest Floating Natural Gas-to-Methanol facility, recalling previous methanol and LNG plans for the Tassie Shoal offshore Australia.

Sept 20 (LNGJ) - Wison Offshore and Marine of China said its 300-megawatt floating storage, regasification and power generation barge that will use regasified LNG has been approved by Lloyd's Register, the UK maritime classification society. “With a total storage capacity of 170,000 cubic metres in GTT membrane cargo tanks, it can receive full cargoes, keeping the cost of LNG supply low,” said Wison. “LNG will be loaded through a ship-to-ship transfer and regasified, feeding the gas turbines. Waste heat from the turbines is recovered to generate steam, which in turn feeds the steam turbine generator. Electric power is stepped up to high voltage before transmission to shore,” explained Wison.

July 27 (LNGJ) - Wison Offshore and Marine, the Chinese engineering and shipbuilding company with facilities in the ports of Nantong and Shanghai, has signed a technical service agreement with Canadian company Western LNG for a new floating project to be developed in British Columbia. Wison will come up with a basic design for the vessel and carry out front-end engineering and design. Western said its development activities are supported by certain funds of the US private equity firm, Apollo Global Management. “The team at Western, with the support of Apollo, is looking forward to continuing work with Wison and our other partners to successfully deliver a mid-scale greenfield LNG export facility,” said Davis Thames, the Western company’s President and Chief Executive.

May 15 (LNGJ) - Belgian LNG shipping line Exmar whose managed and owned fleet consists of three LNG carriers and 11 floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) has signed a 10-year charter with international commodities company Gunvor for the provision of its newbuild FSRU barge for Bangladesh. Exmar said the barge was currently at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore undergoing modifications after having been delivered from the Wison Offshore and Marine shipyard in Nantong, China, in December 2017. “The FSRU barge is expected to arrive in Bangladesh in the fourth quarter of this year and start operations after its full commissioning,” said Exmar. “Gunvor is keen to support the development of new LNG markets by providing reliable and efficient LNG infrastructure solutions,” it added.

Feb 22 (LNGJ) - Exmar, the Belgian LNG fleet owner and project developer, said its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) barge delivered from the Wison shipyard in China at the end of 2017 has left the facility in Nantong and was now bound for Singapore. “There the unit will undergo site specific modifications before departing to its project destination to commence its long-term employment mid-2018 in line with its time charter commitments,” said Antwerp-based Exmar. The vessel is the world’s first newbuild regasification barge and was ordered on a speculative basis. “More information on the charterer and the location will be released at a later stage,” said Exmar.