Bergesen Ships Extra $2 Billion In Future Revenues

Bergesen, the largest owner of gas-carrying ships, has said that it will provide four liquefied natural gas, or LNG, ships to Nigeria LNG Ltd. in a contract that may produce charter revenues of about $2 billion.

Bergesen expects that the vessels will yield an annual charter income of about $100 million. Nigeria LNG, 51 percent owned by the oil companies Shell, Total Fina Elf and Agip, plans to charter the ships for at least twenty years. The shares rose 6.5 kroner, or 4.1 percent, to 165.5 ($18.6).

Bergesen is using its ?strong balance sheet and knowledge from the gas market to win contracts with a good return at low risk,? said Arne Egil Roenning, an analyst at Fondsfinas in Oslo.

The company has targeted LNG transportation as a growth area. Worldwide natural gas use has risen by 22 percent during the past decade, almost twice the 13 percent growth in crude oil. That has spurred oil companies to deliver gas beyond the reach of pipelines, cooling it to liquid form and loading it onto ships.


Author: Neftegaz.ru