Gazprom secures LNG carrier pair under term charters

Russia's state-controlled Gazprom has signed long-term charters for two newbuild LNG carriers, owned by Greece's Alpha Gas.

The first carrier, the 174,000m³ Energy Integrity, was delivered on 14 May and is currently declaring for arrival at an unnamed Atlantic basin destination. The second carrier, the same-sized Energy Intelligence, is scheduled for delivery to Alpha Gas in late June.

Gazprom's current term-chartered LNG fleet is mostly made up of carriers leased from Russian state-controlled owner Sovcomflot and Greek shipowner Dynagas.

The company has 1.2mn t/yr of contractual fob supply from Cameroon's Kribi and a further 2.9mn t/yr in term fob volumes from Russia's Yamal LNG projects, as well as 1mn t/yr of des supply from eastern Russia's Sakhalin facility. Gazprom also has a delivery agreement with India's Gail for around 2.5mn t/yr.

The newly agreed charters further narrow the pool of newbuild LNG carriers that are set to sail straight onto the spot charter market. The outbreak of Covid-19 last year weighed on term charter activity, market participants said, meaning that a significant portion of the scheduled 2021 additions remained without term charters. But the volume of uncommitted tonnage has been whittled down as a number of charterers — notably Shell and US operator Cheniere — have signed up for new term charters.

By Samuel Good