Exmar to Take Delivery of Caribbean FLNG in May

Belgium’s LNG and LPG carrier owner and operator Exmar revealed it expects to take delivery of Caribbean FLNG, a floating liquefaction unit, in May. 

“Financing of the Caribbean FLNG and final delivery of the unit still remains subject to the approval of the local authorities in the People’s Republic of China, which is expected to be received in the course of May 2017,” the company said.

Last month, Exmar said the delivery of the vessel would take place before the end of April 2017 upon payment of the last installment of USD 200.5 million.

Caribbean FLNG, built at Wison Heavy Industry shipyard in Nantong, China, was supposed to work for Canada-based oil and gas company Pacific Exploration and Production (PEP). However, the agreement between Exmar and PEP was terminated in March 2016.

“Progress has been made on the future employment of the Caribbean FLNG and future communication on this is expected in the coming months,” the company further said.

Additionally, Exmar is following several other FSRU and FLNG projects for which it expects “a positive outcome” in the coming months.

The announcement comes on the back of the company’s financial results for the first quarter of 2017 which show that Exmar delivered a consolidated loss of USD 4.1 million, compared to a profit of USD 9.3 million recorded in the same period last year.

Operating result (EBIT) for the quarter stood at USD 3.4 million, against USD 17.1 million in the three-month period last year.

During the quarter, the EBIT for the LNG and LNG Infrastructure Division was USD 5 million including a USD 0.5 million cost associated with the Vopak transaction, compared to USD 13.3 million recorded in the first quarter of 2016. The EBIT also included a USD 5 million termination fee from PEP related to the Caribbean FLNG.

The EBIT for the offshore division in the first quarter of 2017 was USD -3.2 million, against USD 0 million in the first quarter of 2016.

The offshore division continued to feel the pressure of the lack of investments in the oil and gas sector. However, as disclosed, Exmar Offshore is actively bidding on some floating production storage and offloading (FSPO) assets.