Page 12 - GLNG Week 13

GLNG EUROPE GLNG
UK LNG imports up in 2019
PERFORMANCE
UK imports of LNG more than doubled in 2019, reaching 200 terawatt hours (18.7bn cubic metres), preliminary government data have shown. The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said in an update on the country’s natural gas trends that this was the highest level of LNG imports since 2011. Imports of the super-chilled fuel were strong in all quarters, but surged to near-record levels in the fourth quarter, when they accounted for 47% of all UK gas imports.
Over the course of the whole year, LNG accounted for 39% of total gas imports to the UK, up from 15% in 2018. This was dominated by volumes from Qatar, which tripled against 2018 levels and accounted for 49% of UK LNG imports. However, the share of imports from Qatar fell to 30% in the fourth quarter of the year, marking one of the lowest percentages on
record, even though the country remained the biggest importer of LNG to the UK. The BEIS attributed this to the increase in diversity of its supply sources.
LNG imports from the US and Russia more than doubled in 2019 and volumes from Peru also grew. The UK took delivery of cargoes from Angola and Cameroon for the first time last year, as well as a transhipment of LNG from the Netherlands.
Overall, the UK’s imports of natural gas in 2019 were stable on the previous year, but as the share of LNG imports rose, imports of pipeline gas fell by 28% year on year.
The uptick in UK LNG imports is a reflection of a trend visible across Europe over the past year. European imports of LNG surged as new liquefaction capacity came online in the US and elsewhere and spot prices for the fuel fell.™
AMERICAS
Golar LNG Partners announces distribution reduction and operational update
Golar LNG Partners announced today an update regarding its financial strategy and ongoing initiatives in response to the recent Covid-19 induced deterioration in the macro-economic environment. This includes a decision to reduce its quarterly common unit distribution and the initiation of a process to seek an extension of the maturity date for its senior unsecured bond issues maturing in May 2020 (GOLP02, ISIN NO 001 07 36481) (the GOLP02 bonds) and May 2021 (GOLP03, ISIN NO 001 0736481) (the GOLP03 bonds).
The partnership’s board of directors
has approved a reduction in the quarterly common distribution to $0.0202 per unit for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 (from $0.4042 per unit in the previous quarter).
NEWS IN BRIEF
Golar Partners believes this reduction is in the best interest of all of its stakeholders during this unprecedented time of market volatility. The partnership will, as a consequence,
retain approximately $109mn of cash flow annually, allowing the partnership to focus its capital allocation on debt reduction, thus strengthening its balance sheet while providing enhanced financial flexibility to consider capital allocation priorities over time. The reduction will also result in lower breakeven re-contracting rates across the partnership’s fleet.
The partnership will continue its review of its structure and strategy to maximise long- term shareholder value once it has completed the process to extend the bond issues.
Golar Partners has also issued a summons for a meeting of the holders of the GOLP02 bonds and the GOLP03 bonds for the purpose of seeking their approval to an extension of the maturity of both bond issues for 18 months subject to certain terms and conditions, the details of which are disclosed in a separate press release.
GOLAR LNG PARTNERS, April 01, 2020
Cryopeak LNG solutions breaks ground on new LNG production facility in Fort Nelson, BC
Cryopeak LNG Solutions, based in Richmond BC, has begun construction of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility located in Fort Nelson, BC, capable of producing up to 90,000 gallons of LNG per day. Cryopeak’s new LNG facility is the first fully funded and permitted LNG production facility in the Fort Nelson area.
The production facility will be the closest LNG production point to northern Canada and portions of Alaska. A key feature of the plant design incorporates a new truck loading system that optimises loading of Cryopeak’s fleet of LNG Super-B tankers. The plant
will be modular in its design with minimal installation requirements at site.
“We are excited to now have permits in hand and shovels in the ground,” says Calum McClure, CEO of Cryopeak.
This project marks an important
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Week 13 02•April•2020