Golar Orders Two LNG Carriers
Golar LNG Ltd., the Bermuda-based owner of liquefied natural gas carriers led by Norway-born billionaire John Fredriksen, will buy at least two more of the ships as demand for the fuel rises as much as 10 percent a year.
Golar said it ordered two LNG tankers from Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. for more than $400 million for delivery in 2014’s third and fourth quarters. More purchases of new ships and infrastructure will be announced “in the coming weeks,” the Hamilton-headquartered company said today [Feb.16].
“The large global spreads in gas prices, the high growth in trade and the tight availability of shipping give this investment a solid foundation,” Mr. Fredriksen, Golar’s chairman, said in a statement. Global LNG trade will rise 8 percent to 10 percent annually over the next few years, it showed.
Demand for LNG carriers will expand 12 percent this year, more than the fleet’s growth of 2.5 percent, RS Platou Markets AS said in a report Feb. 7. Rates will rise to $140,000 a day, the Oslo-based investment bank estimates.
Two of Golar’s ships whose charters are expiring this year will fetch new multiyear contracts with daily rents above $150,000, estimates Erik Nikolai Stavseth, an analyst at Arctic Securities ASA in Oslo. The company has 13 of the carriers, according to its website.
