Golar LNG and Snam Group are doing business again, this time on a deal for Golar’s only FSRU.
The Tor Olav Troim-backed natural gas infrastructure player said it sold the 170,000-cbm Golar Tundra (built 2015) for $350m for deployment in Italy next spring.
“We are pleased to work with Snam for the successful start-up of the LNG terminals, and to contribute to Europe’s drive towards energy security,” Golar chief executive Karl Fredrik Staubo said in a statement.
“With the sale of Golar Tundra, Golar reinforces its focus on FLNG [floating liquefied natural gas], enabling efficient production of proven gas reserves allowing customers to further diversify gas supply.”
The company said in its first-quarter earnings call that it had considered the Golar Tundra as a candidate for FLNG conversion but had also received interest from various European buyers, state-owned and private, for a sale.
The ship is trading in Golar’s Cool Pool.
Golar will lease it back from Milan-based Snam and continue trading as an LNG carrier. It is expected to switch to FSRU operations in the spring of 2023, following the two companies working together on preparatory work ahead of installation at a port in north-central Italy.
Snam chief executive Stefano Venier said the acquisition would help his company enhance Italy’s energy security and diversity.
He said the company was also in discussions for a second FSRU of similar size, a deal he expects to be finalised by the end of June.
“The role of the new FSRU for the benefit of our country will be essential: alone, it will contribute to about 6.5% of domestic needs thus bringing the country’s regasification capacity to over 25% of the demand,” he said.
In mid-May, Golar and Snam agreed to a €269m ($288m) deal for the 140,000-cbm LNG carrier Golar Arctic (built 2003).
As part of the deal, the ship would undergo a two-year FSRU conversion process.
Once completed, the ship will be installed in Sardinia.
