Golar Energy orders third floating LNG unit

London-based Golar Energy has decided to go ahead with a third conversion project of an LNG tanker to a floating liquefaction facility. As with Golar’s ongoing Hilli and Gimi conversions, the work for the 126,000-cubic-metre LNG carrier Gandria will take place at Singapore’s Keppel shipyard by Black & Veatch.

The Gandria will be leased to London-listed upstream company Ophir Energy in offshore Equatorial Guinea. The deployment date is scheduled for the first half of 2019. The Gimi was originally intended for use by Ophir, but has been reassigned to cover “potential emerging demand” for an FLNG unit in 2018, Golar said in a statement.

Golar’s decision marks the fulfilment of the second of two options from the initial Hilli conversion contract in 2014. Global engineering firm Black & Veatch will again provide its licensed PRICO technology, execute detailed engineering and process design, specify and procure topside equipment and provide commissioning support for the topsides and liquefaction process.

LNG shipping company Golar Energy is a market leader in the FLNG field. Currently, no FLNG units are in operation worldwide, however a number of projects are underway. Golar’s own Hilli is scheduled to hit the field in the first quarter of 2017.

FLNG units present the potential to simplify the midstream process for LNG by allowing tankers to load directly from offshore sites. At the moment, gas is typically transported by pipeline for processing at onshore facilities, which adds a significant cost to production.

Golar also announced that it had secured $990 million in financing from Hong Kong’s CSSC Shipping Company, and so does not expect to have to raise additional funding for the Gandria conversion.