Qatar Farms into Excelerate’s Pakistan FSRU
Qatari state LNG shipowner Nakilat said June 12 it signed an agreement the day before with Excelerate Energy to establish a joint-venture company, and to acquire a 55% interest in a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), the first such vessel to join the Nakilat fleet.
The FSRU in question, Exquisite (pictured above), is located at Port Qasim in Pakistan and has received 10.4mn metric tons of LNG since it started operations in 2015, of which 7.8mn mt from Qatar. It has storage capacity of 150,900 m3, a peak regasification rate of 745mn ft3/d (7.7bn m3/yr), and was Pakistan’s first LNG import facility.
Nakilat CEO Abdullah al Sulaiti said: “We are extremely proud to be the first Qatari company to acquire ownership in an FSRU in an effort to maintain our leadership in energy transportation and simultaneously support the country’s position as the top exporter of clean energy worldwide”
Excelerate’s managing director Steven Kobos said: “This offering of the FSRU unit to the joint-venture company, along with Nakilat’s expertise and reputation as the world’s largest LNG ship owner, will serve the State of Qatar well as they seek access to emerging global LNG markets. We look forward to a successful working relationship with Nakilat and Qatar.”
It is the second FSRUs-related agreement signed by Nakilat, following one in July 2017 with Hoegh LNG; however that accord has yet to lead to Nakilat co-owning a Hoegh FSRU.
Excelerate’s managing director Steven Kobos (left) and Nakilat CEO Abdullah al Sulaiti signed the agreement June 12 (Photo credit: Nakilat)