Golar LNG Partners report lower Q2 profit

Golar LNG Partners, a limited partnership formed by Golar LNG, on Wednesday reported a drop in net income from US$41 million in the second quarter of 2015, to $28 million in the corresponding quarter of 2016.

However, the company posted an increase when compared to the $16.8 million of net income reported for the first quarter of 2016.

Vessel operating expenses grew $0.7 million due to additional repairs and maintenance of the Nusantara Regas Satu, the FSRU that has completed its annual maintenance during the quarter.

Excluding scheduled downtime, the Partnership’s fleet posted a 100 percent utilization, adding that it has an average remaining contract term of 4.5 years.

LNG carrier market on the up

Earlier in February, the Partnership acquired the FSRU Golar Tundra for $330 million from Golar. The vessel has since arrived in Ghana under its charter deal with West African Gas Limited (WAGL).

However, the project developers have faced delays and the FSRU is not expected to commence operations in the third quarter, but the Partnership reported it will receive approximately $2.6 million per month until operations commence.

While Golar Partners has no vessels due for re-contracting until the end of 2017, the LNG carrier market has shown signs of improvement over the past few weeks. Further improvement is expected with new LNG production coming on stream.

Golar Partners have three LNG carriers that come off contract at the end of 2017, the Golar Grand, Golar Maria and the Golar Mazo, however, with the market improvement, the company expects to re-contract the vessels as new opportunities arise.