Golar 3Q Profits Helped by Ghana Cash
Golar LNG has posted 3Q profits sharply up on year-ago levels, thanks to better overall shipping rates and cash recovered from a Ghana contract. A sister company will earn from a new contract in Jamaica.
Golar LNG's 3Q net income of $66.2mn was 82% higher than last year's Q3 profit of $36.3mn. The improved shipping market helped: Golar said it expects 4Q 2018 time charter equivalent on fixtures to date in range of $70,000/day - $80,000/day for all LNG carriers (up from $41,200/day in 3Q 2018) and $85,000/d - $95,000/d for more modern ‘TFDE’ vessels.
Cash recovery in 3Q2018 of $26mn also helped; this came as a result of proceedings in respect of a former contract for the Golar Tundra , which was moored for 15 months offshore Ghana without ever being used for its intended purpose as a receiving terminal. Proceedings are expected to end shortly, said Golar. (Tundra is shown in the banner photo, courtesy of Golar LNG)
Golar Power, a joint venture of Golar LNG and Stonepeak, closed a $235.5mn financing facility for the 170,000m3 FSRU Golar Nanook and took delivery of the ship to be deployed from 2019 onwards in Brazil.
Export of Cameroon FLNG’s 10th cargo is currently in progress, added Golar; the venture uses Golar’s Hilli Espiseyo as a production ship and started exports May 2018. It is West Africa's first floating liquefaction (or FLNG) project. Golar’s results however made scant reference to Fortuna FLNG, the project offshore Equatorial Guinea which UK-based independent Ophir Energy still hopes to get sanctioned by end-2018; that project however looks increasingly in doubt after failing so far to secure financing and a sale is on the cards.
Jamaica contract for Golar LNG Partners
Meanwhile a sister company, the Golar LNG Partners 'master limited partnership' made a $49mn profit, up from $26.5mn in the same quarter last year) with $25.1mn in cash received from a previous FSRU Golar Freeze contract to cover October 2018 - April 2019 revenues.
Golar Freeze entered Dubai dry-docks in July for modifications necessary to service its new 15-year project offshore Jamaica. Although Golar LNG Partners (GLP) did not on this occasion name the charterer of the new Jamaica contract, this is known to be the US small-scale LNG developer New Fortress Energy.
"FSRU Golar Freeze will shortly arrive offshore Jamaica where she will service a 15-year charter for an energy and logistics company. From commencement of commercial operations, expected during January, 2019, hire will be receivable at the full daily base rate, initially expected to deliver approximately $18mn in annual adjusted Ebitda" (earnings before tax depreciation and amortisation), GLP said.
It also said that Kuwait National Petroleum Company, charterers of FSRU Golar Igloo, had extended the 2018 regas season to include December and that a decision on the exercise of their option to extend the charter by a further year is expected by the end of November. Kuwait expects to start up a big onshore 22mn mt/yr (30bn m3/yr) LNG import terminal in 2021.