Excelerate Energy’s FSRU Excelsior, which will later this year head to Germany, has started seasonal regasification services at the Bahia Blanca GasPort terminal in Argentina.
The US FSRU owner said in March that the 2005-built 138,000-cbm FSRU will first provide seasonal regasification service at the Bahia Blanca terminal before heading to Germany in the third quarter this year.
In October last year, Excelerate signed a charter deal with Germany for the FSRU and this charter started in February this year.
The vessel will serve the second FSRU-based facility in Wilhelmshaven. E.ON, TES, and Engie are the developers behind this facility.
However, Excelerate won a seasonal charter in March for the FSRU to deliver regasfied LNG during the winter season (June-August) in Argentina.
The firm said that it will place the FSRU on a suspension agreement during its deployment in Bahia Blanca.
“In May 2023, the FSRU Excelsior commenced seasonal regasification services at the Bahia Blanca GasPort terminal in Argentina,” Excelerate said in its first-quarter report on Wednesday.
Excelerate said it expects the FSRU to provide regasification services for the duration of the Argentine winter season.
Reaffirming 2023 guidance range
Excelerate is reaffirming its 2023 guidance range and the company expects adjusted Ebitda to range between $320 million and $340 million for the full year 2023.
The company reported net income of $30.7 million for the first quarter. It also reported adjusted net income of $32.7 million and adjusted Ebitda of $79.9 million for the quarter.
Net income and adjusted Ebitda increased over the prior year first quarter primarily due to higher margins earned on gas sales contracts in Brazil along with gas sales into Finland and higher FSRU and terminal services revenue from the Finland and Germany charters, the firm said.
Also, net income and adjusted Ebidta decreased sequentially from last quarter primarily due to a scheduled dry dock for the FSRU Excelsior along with higher planned maintenance expense at the company’s Bangladesh terminal, Excelerate said.
The company currently operates operates ten FSRUs, one of the world’s largest fleets of such vessels, and it ordered one FSRU in South Korea last year.
“Excelerate Energy’s first quarter financial results continue to demonstrate the strength of our diversified business model and our proven track record of leveraging our integrated FSRU fleet to provide critical LNG services to customers across our global footprint,” said president and CEO Steven Kobos.
“The ongoing contribution from our stable regasification business was complemented by another quarter of earnings overperformance from our gas sales contracts in Brazil,” he added.