Delfin Midstream, the US developer of a floating LNG export project in the Gulf of Mexico, is joining forces with China’s Wison Offshore & Marine to develop floating LNG producers.
In that regard, Delfin Midstream entered into a design and engineering contract with Wison to develop FLNG vessels for application on the company’s Deepwater Port projects currently under construction in North America.
“Given the strong market outlook for cleaner burning fuels in Asia and the continuing strong demand in Europe, Delfin is accelerating the development of the remaining FLNG vessel slots at the Delfin LNG project,” the firm said in a statement.
Merchant commodities firm Hartree Partners is conducting marketing operations to Chinese LNG buyers on the company’s behalf and Delfin is also progressing the development of additional Deepwater Port projects in North America in cooperation with its existing midstream and financial partners, it said.
Teaming up with Wison will allow Delfin to construct new FLNG vessels to support these projects and the export of US natural gas to worldwide markets, the firm noted.
“Wison has been visionary to develop its design, engineering, and construction capabilities for the LNG industry and in particular the floating LNG segment,” Wouter Pastoor, COO of Delfin, said.
Wison is currently buidling Eni’s 2.4 mtpa FLNG and recently completed a large self-supporting prismatic shape IMO type B LNG tank for the project.
“Sharing our commitment and entrepreneurial spirit, Wison’s goal is to continue into a full FEED later this year such that FLNG vessel construction can start at their shipyard in mid 2024,” Pastoor said.
Delfin has been developing the Delfin LNG Deepwater Port project, which can support four FLNG vessels with a combined export capacity of up to 13.3 million tons per annum.
The company has secured commercial agreements for LNG sales and liquefaction services and is in the final phase towards FID on its first two FLNG vessels, it said.
Last month, Delfin Midstream said it expects to take a final investment decision on its first floating LNG producer in October this year.
Delfin has been quite busy this year and it recently sealed a supply deal with UK-based Cetnrica worth about $8 billion.
Prior to that, the firm secured an investment from Japan’s shipping giant MOL and previously signed supply deals with Hartree Partners and Vitol.
In addition to these agreements, Delfin LNG entered into a heads of agreement in September last year with US oil and gas producer Devon Energy for long-term liquefaction capacity, but also a pre-financial investment decision strategic investment.