US funds have recently targeted the liquefied natural gas markets and the shipping sector.
Floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) hava attracted the US interest, as the US now controls a third of the world fleet.
According to “Naftemporiki” sources, the US funds are eyeing the purchase of even entire fleets of LNG carriers.
A market in which Greek shipowners are leading the way, since based on the data of the Hellenic Shipowners’ Association they control 22.65% of the capacity of the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport fleet.
Market executives who monitor the movements in the energy sector pointed out to “Naftemporiki” that US interests succeed in this way in making investments that are expected to bring high profits, since LNG will dominate in the coming decades, while at the same time they have a strong geopolitical footprint.
Dominating the deals
According to the data processed by Veson Nautical on behalf of “Naftemporiki”, energy companies with mainly US interests currently own 16 of the 47 FSRUs in operation around the world, as well as the only one under construction this period.
From 2020 to 2023, they have opted for mass purchases. In particular, according to Veson Nautical data, out of a total of 20 purchases that have been made during this period, 11 concern US funds.
In fact, leading Greek shipping companies are also involved in three of these moves, and more specifically Maran Gas of the Angelikoussis group and Dynagas of the George Prokopiou group.
In particular, in April 2023, Excelerate Energy, listed on the US stock exchange, completed the acquisition of the Sequoia LNG floating storage and regasification station from Maran Gas, of the Angelikoussis group. This is the FSRU Excelerate Sequoia, with a capacity of 170,139 cubic meters and built in 2020.
Based on Veson’s report, the price was around 265 million euros. The US company currently controls 10 FSRUs.
In July 2022, six FSRUs, built between 1977 and 2018, also from the New Fortress Energy, were added to Energos’ capacity. This was an internal transaction.
Energos is the result of a joint venture between New Fortress Energy and Apollo, in which the former participates with 20% and the latter with 80%. Following the purchase of FSRUs from Dynagas, Energos now manages 13 vessels, of which nine are FSRUs, two FSUs (Floating Storage Units) and two LNG carriers.
Another major Greek shipping company in the LNG sector, GasLog, which owns an FSRU (Alexandroupolis), also has US capital in its share capital.
In July 2022 and November 2021, New Fortress purchased two FSRUs, built in 2014 and 2018, which belonged to Chinese interests.
In second place, behind the US, is Norway with eight FSRUs, while Turkey’s performance with five FSRUs is noteworthy.
Finally, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, India, Ireland, Japan, Qatar and Russia have one FSRU in force.
The US is now one of the largest producers of liquefied natural gas, mainly due to the development of the shale gas method. LNG is expected to play a leading role in the next 20 to 25 years in the planet’s green energy transition.
FSRUs, floating storage and regasification units, are the most practical solution for a country’s LNG supply, since fixed installations are costly and time-consuming.
