Brazilian oil giant Petrobras is terminating the charter of a Golar LNG Partners floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) more than a year early.
Petrobras will redeliver the 2.5 cbm per year Golar Spirit (converted 2007) on 21 June 2017 instead of the original end date in August 2018 under terms provisioned in the 10-year charter.
Golar LNG Partners says it believes it can find significant interest in refixing the vessel as it is well suited to emerging small-scale projects, and that Petrobras will pay compensation for the early termination.
The company says it will immediately start re-marketing the Golar Spirit for FSRU employment after June 2017.
“There is currently significant interest and bidding activity in the FSRU market and also a limited number of FSRUs available for the next two years,” it said in a statement.
As a relatively small capacity vessel, the company added that the Golar Spirit “could be well suited for a number of emerging smaller scale FSRU projects as well as a potential bridging solution for larger projects”.
The compensation fee paid by Petrobras will represent about 62% of the EBITDA remaining under the contract from 21 June 2017 to the original end date.
Petrobras plans to divest its two smaller floating LNG terminal assets in the wake of the corruption scandal that has engulfed the company.
The Golar Spirit was the first FSRU converted from a liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier. The ship was originally built in 1981.
