Expansion-minded Golar LNG’s team met with Argentina’s President Javier Milei this week as news emerged that key domestic energy company YPF is joining the company and its partner Pan American Energy in their floating LNG production project.
Golar chief commercial officer Federico Petersen posted a shot of company chief executive Karl Fredrik Staubo, company representative Argentina Marcos Browne and himself with Milei.
Staubo told TradeWinds that Milei, economy and finance minister Luis Caputo, and vice minister of energy and mining Daniel Gonzalez Casartelli in the Casa Rosada — the president’s official workplace — in Buenos Aires on Monday.
“We expressed mutual recognition of the strong development of the Argentinian economy following President Milei’s policies since becoming president and Golar’s role in introducing Argentina as an LNG exporter,” he said.
Staubo reminded that the company's FLNG unit Hilli will initially be used for a 20 year contract with Southern Energy, a joint venture between Pan American Energy and Golar.
“We also discussed plans to further open the economy to facilitate for international investment and economic growth, including the potential to further expand LNG exports from the Vaca Muerta field through Golar’s under construction MKII FLNG , currently the earliest available FLNG capacity globally,” he added
In a LinkedIn post, Petersen described the meeting with the president as “very constructive”.
Petersen said Golar is “encouraged” to deploy its 2.45 mtpa capacity FLNG unit Hilli to Argentina.
Partner Pan American Energy issued a 20-year reservation notice on Hilli in October. The two companies, who have since been joined in their venture by YPF, plan to use the unit to monetise Argentina’s vast Vaca Muerta shale gas reserves.
Tor Olav Troim-led Golar has said it will cost between $250m and $300m to redeploy Hilli from Cameroon in West Africa, where it has produced over 8m tonnes of LNG since 2018, to Argentina.
Petersen also referenced “the possibility” of deploying Golar’s on order 3.4 mtpa FLNG Mk II unit, which delivers in the fourth quarter of 2027, to Argentina.
In September, Golar greenlighted the $2.2bn conversion of the 148,500-cbm LNG carrier Fuji LNG (built 2004) into its first MkII unit which will be its largest FLNG yet.
The vessel is due to enter CIMC Raffles yard in China early next year.
Golar said in its recent third-quarter results that it aims to secure a charter deal for this new FLNG unit in 2025.
The company is also sitting on an optional conversion slot at the Chinese yard but would need to declare this next year to secure a 2028 delivery date.
Golar has said that with the construction of a pipeline the Vaca Muerta project could require multiple FLNG units.
