Gasol wins Malta FLNG contract

The award of an LNG contract in Malta to a consortium including Malta has been described as “hugely significant for the company’s future”.

Electrogas is a consortium that consists of Gasol (30%), SOCAR Trading, GEM Holdings and Siemens Projects Ventures, and was selected from a group of 18 other interested parties.

Although the floating LNG project is outside of Gasol’s normal African focus, Malta looks a more immediate route to the generation of revenues and positive cash flow, with expected revenues “sufficient to justify a substantially higher share price”.

Alan Buxton, Gasol’s chief operating officer commented: “This is a hugely exciting development for Gasol. Although based outside of our usual geographic remit, we have considerable expertise in floating LNG import projects, which we can apply to Malta.”

The project involves the provision of a floating storage unit (FSU) to be docked in Delimara, Malta, and the regasification of an initial 55-60 million ft³/d of gas from LNG deliveries to Malta’s power group Enemalta.

SOCAR will supply the FSU for the project and have the exclusive right to supply LNG to an existing 149 MW plant run by Enemalta and also a new 200 MW station to be built by the consortium.

Gasol and SOCAR are already partners on projects to supply LNG to Benin, Togo and Ghana from ships converted to FSUs to store and supply gas.

Electrogas will acquire a special purpose vehicle for £ 30 mlllion with all the necessary permits to undertake the project, while the total cost to construct the infrastructure expected to be € 370 million.

Final terms are expected to take a few months to conclude, but work is expected to begin in Q1 2014 and construction should take 18 months.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/14102013/gasol_wins_malta_flng_contract_313/