Page 6 - GLNG Week 01 2023

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

Japanese banks help finance

FSRU for Senegal

COMMENTARY Senegal is on track to start extracting natural gas the ongoing operation of the FSRU, which was
from its portion of the Greater Tortue/Ahmeyim first brought to Senegalese waters and installed
(GTA) offshore block in the second half of 2023 offshore near Dakar in June 2021. This vessel is
and will begin sending its production to a float- operated by KARMOL, a joint venture between
ing LNG (FLNG) plant for processing into MOL and Karpowership of Turkey, and it regas-
LNG before the end of the year. Nevertheless, it ifies LNG for delivery to the Karadeniz Power-
recently became party to a deal that will help it ship Ayşegül Sultan, a unit from Karpowership’s
sustain an existing arrangement to import LNG fleet of electricity-generating ships that has a
until March 2025. capacity of 235 MW.“The Turkish fleet vessel was
The deal in question was a set of loan agree- first installed offshore Dakar in October 2019.
ments signed with two Japanese banks – namely, According to information posted on Karpow-
the state-owned Japan Bank for International ership’s website, it is slated to remain there until
Co-operation (JBIC) and the country’s largest March 2025, as it is operating under a contract
private bank, MUFG. In late December, the with a term of five and a half years.
banks agreed to lend $71mn to Senegal LNGT So it seems, then, that Senegal will continue
(SLNG), a subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines to import LNG at least until March 2025, even
(MOL), with around $35mn coming from JBIC though it is slated to start producing its own LNG
and $36mn coming from MUFG. by the end of 2023. That is, it will still be buying
The proceeds of the loan will help cover the LNG from foreign suppliers and having it deliv-
cost of SLNG’s plans for importing LNG via a ered to MOL’s FSRU so that KARMOL can use
floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the regasified fuel to generate electricity on the
according to a statement from JBIC. SLNG will Karadeniz Powership Ayşegül Sultan between
use the FSRU to obtain gas that can be delivered the final quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of
to Senelec, the national power provider of Sen- 2025, despite the fact that BP (UK), the opera-
egal, and utilised as raw material for electricity tor of the offshore GTA block, is on track to start
generation, the statement said. producing LNG from the first phase of the GTA
project later this year.
FSRU and power ship This may seem like a waste, but it is not nec-
It indicated that the credits would help support essarily so.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 05•January•2023