NFE: Altamira FLNG by end of 2023; new LNG import terminal in Brazil on line early 2024

Petrobras’ FSRU Energos Winter will be moved to NFE’s Terminal Gas Sul in Santa Catarina, Brazil, where commercial operations are set to begin in January 2024. Formerly Golar Winter, the FSRU Energos Winter has a capacity of 138,250 m³. 

NFE will sub-charter the FSRU for the remaining term of Petrobras’ existing charter with Energos infrastructure before shifting to a direct-charter on a long-term basis with Energos. The company said the arrangement will enable it to commence commercial operations at TGS in January 2024 and ensure uninterrupted service. Energos Infrastructure, which owns Energos Winter, is owned 80% by funds managed by Apollo and 20% by NFE.

“We are extremely pleased to reach this agreement with Petrobras and begin operations at the TGS terminal in Santa Catarina, Brazil, ahead of schedule in January 2024. The TGS terminal is a unique, high-growth opportunity for NFE, as the connection to the pipeline system in south Brazil offers a diverse and near-term set of opportunities across power and gas supply," said New Fortress Energy managing director Andrew Dete.

In its quarterly earnings report, NFE also confimed it expected to achieve first gas and to have its commercial operations in full swing by the end of the fourth quarter of 2023.

In October, NFE said it was closing in on the launch of its first floating LNG (FLNG) project off Altamira, Mexico, despite a delay in the expected timeline the company announced in a statement in June. 

NFE head of finance Chris Guinta said the company had expected to introduce the first gas from the so-called Altamira Fast LNG project in September and to sell the inaugural LNG cargo in October.

On 26 September, NFE’s liquefaction rig, Pioneer II, set sail from the Kiewit Offshore Services shipyard in Ingleside, near Corpus Christi, Texas, in the US, under tow and en route to Altamira. Jack-up rig Pioneer II will join two other FLNG rigs already on site in Altamira for final installation and commissioning, with a target completion date by early November, according to an NFE statement.