Gunvor to fund Equatorial Guinea government’s stake in Fortuna FLNG

Swiss trading company Gunvor has shown interest in financing the Fortuna FLNG project as it looks to secure supply from the Equatorial Guinea’s floating liquefied natural gas plant.

Gunvor has been shortlisted to sign an LNG supply deal from the project, together with another trading house, Vitol and the Hague-based LNG giant Shell.

The trader is looking to strengthen its position by financing a 30 percent stake in the project for the state-run Sonagas, Reuters reports, citing industry sources.

Talks are still ongoing, sources said, however, Gunvor has the leading position, and will most likely build a joint venture with Sonagas in order to do LNG trading on a government-to-government level, as under the arrangement, Gunvor would not own a stake in Fortuna FLNG project.

However, under the umbrella agreement, signed in May this year, the government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea or a designated state company has the right to acquire a 30 percent stake ownership of the midstream FLNG vessel.

The floating LNG vessel will have a production of 2.5 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas, with the first production expected in mid-2020.

The project is led by London-based Ophir Energy with a 33.8 percent stake while OneLNG, a joint venture between Golar and Schlumberger, holds a 66.2 percent stake.

LNG World News Staff