Golar LNG said the FLNG Hilli, located offshore Cameroon’s Kribi, has offloaded its 100th cargo of liquefied natural gas since it started operations in 2018.
The LNG firm led by Tor Olav Trøim said the milestone shipment took place on October 14.
Hilli unloaded the 100th LNG cargo to the 2021-built 173,400-cbm, Energy Integrity, owned by Greece’s Alpha Gas and chartered by German gas importer Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE), previously known as Gazprom Germania.
As the world’s first FLNG conversion that also introduced Cameroon as the world’s 20th LNG exporting nation in 2018, Hilli has maintained “market leading” commercial uptime since its contract start-up, Golar said.
CEO Karl-Fredrik Staubo said in the statement that the “unrivalled track record of first-class operations for a pioneering vessel is a significant achievement.”
This is also a “testimony to the near 5 ½ years of close and constructive co-operation between Golar, Perenco, and the government of Cameroon,” he said.
“We see the proven capabilities of FLNG as increasingly valuable in today’s energy market, enabling monetization of associated and stranded gas reserves, and catering to a world dependent on energy diversification for energy security,” Staubo said.
The floating LNG producer has in total four trains installed onboard with a production capacity of 2.4 million tons per year.
Earlier this year, US LNG player New Fortress Energy sold its stake in the FLNG to Golar.
Golar acquired a 50 percent interest in trains 1 and 2 of the FLNG.
FLNG focus
Besides this FLNG, Golar owns the 2.5 mtpa Gimi FLNG currently under conversion at Singapore’s Seatrium yard.
Gimi is expected to leave the yard this month and will serve BP’s Tortue FLNG project offshore Mauritania and Senegal under a 20-year charter deal.
Moreover, Golar recently signed a heads of terms with Nigeria’s NNPC for joint development of gas fields using floating LNG producers, expanding on their deal signed in April this year.
The relevant fields could fully utilize FLNG Hilli following the end of its current contract in mid-2026, or utilize a MKII FLNG with an annual capacity of 3.5 mtpa, Golar said.
Earlier this year, Golar exercised its option to acquire the 148,000-cbm Moss-type carrier, Fuji LNG, which it aims to convert to a floating LNG producer.
The firm said that the cost of a converted Fuji FLNG is expected to be around $2 billion, equivalent to about $570 per ton.
Besides Nigeria, Golar also recently held talks with Equatorial Guinea to develop the country’s large gas reserves.
Golar’s Trøim and Staubo visited Equatorial Guinea’s capital Malabo on August 31.
Staubo said during the company’s second-quarter results report that, in addition to Nigeria, “we see similar developments of more than 5 potential FLNG deployment opportunities in other West African countries.”
“We are currently having commercial negotiations with gas resource owners and government interaction in potential countries of operation,” he said.
Staubo noted that Golar’s priority remains to first recharter Hilli before a final investment decision on the Mark II FLNG.