Hoegh LNG is close to securing a contract to supply a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for an LNG import terminal in the Australian port of Geelong.
The Norwegian shipowner has entered into a heads of agreement (HoA) to negotiate a charterparty for the unit with Australia’s Viva Energy.
The HoA sets out a framework and key terms for the negotiation of a binding time charter agreement and is a material step in the delivery of the Viva Energy Gas Terminal project.
Viva said the full terms of the charterparty will be finalised in the coming months and will be subject to the project achieving a final investment decision and other conditions.
"We are very pleased to confirm Hoegh LNG as our partner for the FRSU, and this is an important step in the project’s development," said Viva Energy chief executive Scott Wyatt.
"Hoegh LNG will bring its significant breadth and depth of experience in the FSRU market to the project, and we look forward to finalising the time charter agreement and working with them towards our final investment decision in 2022."
If confirmed, this would be Hoegh LNG's second FSRU contract in Australia after it secured a contract from Australian Industrial Energy to supplying its 170,000-cbm FSRU Hoegh Galleon (built 2019) for an import terminal at Port Kembla in New South Wales.
Hoegh LNG, which recently delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange, currently operates a fleet of 10 FSRUs and two LNG carriers and employs some 670 seafarers.
Viva Energy owns and operates the Geelong Refinery in Victoria, and operates bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals and lubricants businesses supported by more than 20 terminals.
The Viva Energy project is one of several LNG-import terminals under development to help fill an expected shortfall in gas supply in south-east Australia from 2024 as output declines from Australia’s Bass Strait fields.
In the summer Australian energy company Venice Energy agreed a preliminary charter deal with GasLog to supply an FSRU for its import project in the Australian port of Adelaide.
Other projects include one by South Korean private equity firm EPIK, which is working with Hyundai LNG Shipping, while Dutch terminal operator Vopak is looking to build a facility in Port Phillip Bay in the state of Victoria.
However, one project has already bitten the dust, with AGL Energy pulling the plug on its FSRU-based LNG import project in the state of Victoria after local authorities rejected the plan due to environmental concerns.
