The George Logothetis-led Libra Group is adding LNG infrastructure to its wide array of investments.
Libra subsidiary Seapath announced forming a joint venture with Pilot LNG — a Houston-based company developing the first dedicated LNG bunkering facility in the US Gulf Coast.
Budgeted initially at $150m, the project is scheduled to run in early 2026, providing fuel to LNG-powered vessels in the Houston and Galveston area.
Even though small in scale, the plan could mark the beginning of something bigger.
“This is the first in a series of strategic investments by Seapath and Pilot LNG to create a network of LNG facilities in areas of unmet need in the US,” the two companies said.
“Thanks to our valuable partnership with Pilot, we look forward to developing more of these much-needed facilities in ports across the US,” Seapath chief executive Greg Otto said.
Lomar, Libra’s shipping arm, netted hundreds of millions of dollars in profit from lucrative boxship sales during the container ship market boom.
Some of those profits are reinvested through Libra — a diversified business group spanning aerospace, renewable energy, real estate and hospitality.
Seapath is just one of 30 separate Libra subsidiaries and it focuses on US-based maritime industrial technology, port real estate and Jones Act vessels.
Americraft Marine, another Libra subsidiary, owns and operates a Jones Act shipyard in Palatka, Florida.
New partner
Pilot LNG and Seapath expect to announce investment details of their Galveston LNG bunkering project by the second half of 2024.
Until then, they will work on front-end engineering and design work to obtain all necessary state permits to build and operate the site.
The hook-up with Seapath marks a change in direction for Pilot LNG, which had previously been planning a floating LNG unit that would have produced up to 900,000 gallons daily.
Pilot LNG chief executive Jon Cook said the switch to a smaller, land-based facility with a capacity to produce 300,000 gallons per day of LNG would be better sized for the market and have a shorter construction period, allowing the partners to be operationally sooner than using FLNG.
Pilot LNG had embarked on the project well before Libra’s involvement, but it apparently needed fresh partners to keep it going.
TradeWinds reported two years ago that the company anticipated taking a final investment decision on its initial FLNG-based project in early 2022 and operating it in early 2025.
Originally, Pilot LNG planned to site its FLNG unit off Pelican Island to produce LNG for bunkers for the US ports of Houston, Galveston and Texas City and use an LNG bunker barge to ship volumes from the production unit to vessels at local anchorages or ports.
A pairing with China’s Wison Offshore & Marine on this first planned FLNG unit has since lapsed.
