US-listed Excelerate Energy has moved to renew its fleet by reserving a slot for a floating storage and regasification unit newbuilding at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea.
The company’s second-quarter results presentation detailed that it had signed a letter of intent with the yard for a 170,000-cbm FSRU which is due for delivery in 2026.
Speaking on the results call — its first as a public company — Excelerate chief executive Steven Kobos said the company is not taking anything off the table for its fleet.
He said Excelerate is looking at newbuildings and has a full set of conversion kits for the right candidate.
“We won’t rule out any other mechanism for expanding tonnage,” he said.
Kobos would not be drawn on whether the company has any options at the yard and said the company is focused on the vessel specifications at present.
Excelerate controls a fleet of 10 FSRUs built between 2005 and 2014.
Industry watchers have been expecting the company to move on fleet growth and renewal for several years, particularly as the company’s vessels now rank as slightly smaller than some of the more modern units. But until now the company has held off on looking at newbuildings.
Excelerate, like other owners of regas tonnage, has been mopping up on business.
Kobos said to accommodate the number of projects currently in the company’s pipeline Excelerate is assessing a range of options for increasing its tonnage and optimising the deployment of its vessels.
The CEO described the company’s second-quarter results as “solid”.
He said these had been delivered during what he described as “the most dynamic shift in the energy markets since the OPEC oil embargo of 1973”.
He said Europe is presenting many opportunities for the company.
Kobos flagged up the new project in Finland that will utilise Excelerate’s 150,900-cbm FSRU Exemplar (built 2010).
He said the project “illustrates the growing demand for flexible access to LNG as countries accelerate their efforts to enhance their energy security”.
Kobos revealed that Excelerate will supply two emergency power barges to Albania which are due online in the second half of this year.
The company’s 138,000-cbm FSRU Excelsior (built 2005), which is deployed off Israel, is due to shift over to Excelerate’s project in Albania.
Kobos said Excelerate expects the pickup in the pace of decision-making in Europe will have a “spill-over” effect for customers in the rest of the world.
He said: “We are confident we can benefit from these market tailwinds.”
Kobos said the company estimates that its projects in advanced development represent over $1bn of capital investment opportunities.
He said the company has additional projects in early-stage development in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
