The owner of the first LNG receiving and regasification terminal in the Middle East, Bahrain LNG, has completed limited recourse financing for the project
Oil and Gas Holding Company and a consortium consisting of Teekay LNG Partners LP (Teekay LNG), Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) and Samsung C and T (Samsung) are the joint owners of Bahrain LNG WLL who have managed to secure the financing for a project of this size and complexity, a landmark in the regional financial markets.
A syndicate of nine international and regional banks is participating in the US$741mn loan. The loan has a tenor of 20 years with Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE) provided commercial and political risk cover for around 80 per cent of the financing.
The banking syndicate includes APICORP, Standard Chartered Bank DIFC, Korea Development Bank, Ahli United Bank B.S.C., Banco Santander S.A., Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ING Bank, Natixis, and Société Générale.
The project will have a capacity of 800 million standard cubic feet per day and will be owned and, once completed in early 2019, operated under a twenty-year agreement. It will comprise a Floating Storage Unit (FSU), an offshore LNG receiving jetty and breakwater, an adjacent regasification platform, subsea gas pipelines from the platform to shore, an onshore gas receiving facility, and an onshore nitrogen production facility.
The EPC contract was awarded to GS Engineering & Construction. Teekay LNG will supply the FSU which will be modified specifically for this project, through a twenty year time-charter agreement.
His Excellency Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Minister of Oil, commented: “The Bahrain LNG Import Terminal is a key component of our plans for the further expansion of the energy and related sectors of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The achievement of financial close is a critical milestone in the continued development of the Bahrain LNG Import Terminal Project and we congratulate the sponsors, their supporting lenders and K-SURE on their achievement after many months of sustained effort.”
