Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard continues to progress with the conversion works on the 2.5 mtpa Gimi FLNG and the vessel is on track to start serving BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project located offshore Mauritania and Senegal next year, according to Golar LNG.
The Tor Olav Troim-led LNG firm said in its second-quarter results report that the unit is 86 percent technically complete.
It is scheduled to start serving BP’s Tortue FLNG project under a 20-year charter deal in the fourth quarter of 2023, Golar said.
During the second quarter Golar and Keppel Capital, the owners of FLNG Gimi, agreed to a $50 million incentive payment to Keppel Shipyard for initiatives to safeguard sail away within the first half of 2023, according to Golar.
Golar owns 70 percent of the FLNG, hence $35 million of the incentive payment will be for Golar’s account.
The firm said it would fund this from cash on hand.
Once commissioned and delivered to BP, Golar expects the FLNG to unlock around $3 billion of earnings backlog to the firm, equivalent to $151 million in annual adjusted Ebitda.
The commercial start-up of FLNG Gimi together with the commodity linked production from the company’s Hilli FLNG in Cameroon, could result in Golar’s share of annual adjusted Ebitda generation from the two units exceeding $400 million within 2.5 years, it said.
New FLNG project
In February, Golar said it was expecting to win a new contract for a floating LNG producer this year. The firm also developed three different FLNG designs.
The firm said it had “multiple new client engagements during the quarter as well as strong development of the existing FLNG growth pipeline across both integrated and tolling based projects.”
Golar is ramping up construction engineering work and plans to order long-lead items during the second half for a MKII design FLNG, with a liquefaction capacity of up to 3.5 mtpa.
The firm said it has identified a “suitable conversion candidate vessel”.
“Based on progress across the FLNG growth portfolio the company maintains its target for FLNG announcement within 2022,” it said.
