US-listed New Fortress Energy expects to put its first floating LNG (FLNG) production unit into operation by mid-2023, slightly later than originally planned.
New Fortress chairman and chief executive Wes Edens said on Tuesday: “We expect to achieve mechanical completion of our first FLNG unit in March 2023 and deploy FLNG 1 into operation by mid-year, with additional units to follow soon thereafter.”
The company originally said it planned to put the first FLNG unit into operation by the first quarter of 2023.
In its August results call senior executives detailed that the first floater would be completed in the first quarter of 2023 and ready for deployment on-site.
New Fortress appears keen to show off the progress it has made converting its purchased offshore assets into FLNG units.
The company has invited investors and analysts to the Kiewit Offshore Services shipyard near Corpus Christi in Texas on 2 November for an “FLNG Investor Day”.
The 555-acre yard is handling the construction of New Fortress’ so-called “Fast LNG” units. At Kiewit New Fortress is converting three jack-up rigs named as Pioneer 1, II and III into its FLNG1 unit. FLNGs 2 and 3 are listed as conversions of fixed jackets. The units are scheduled for delivery dates from 2023 through to 2024.
Edens said: Utilising a highly skilled workforce on the U.S. Gulf Coast, we have developed an efficient and repeatable construction process — essentially an FLNG factory — that substantially reduces the cost and time to build incremental liquefaction capacity to meet the urgent needs of the global energy markets.”
Separately New Fortress has said it is converting two Sevan semi-submersible rigs into FLNG units 4 and 5 at Sembcorp Marine in Singapore for delivery dates in 2024.
The US company has previously said it has some eight million tonnes per annum of FLNG projects under development at sites in the US Gulf and Mexico.
