HOUSTON, Dec. 17, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Excelerate Energy, LLC, a Woodlands, Tx.-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipper and marketer, announced today that its operating unit, Excelerate Energy LP has signed definitive agreements with El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP) related to El Paso's Energy Bridge offshore LNG regasficiation assets and technology.
Formed in July 2003, Excelerate Energy LLC and its affiliates are led by a team of seasoned energy industry executives, including Kathleen Eisbrenner, who serves as president, and Rob Bryngelson and Jonathan Cook, both vice presidents. Excelerate is owned by George B. Kaiser of Tulsa, Okla.
In the first of a series of transactions involving Excelerate and Energy Bridge, Excelerate signed funding and tolling agreements with El Paso Energy Bridge Gulf of Mexico, LLC, an indirect affiliate of El Paso Corporation in which the latter will provide construction, maintenance and operational support for the first Energy Bridge Deepwater Port regasification project, which is currently under consideration for licensing by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). The license is expected to be issued during the first quarter of 2004 with the facility operational by the fourth quarter of 2004. Excelerate also assumes rights to El Paso's Energy Bridge assets and technology, enabling the company to pursue deployment of additional offshore LNG terminals worldwide, with a primary focus on North American coastal locations. The agreements are effective Dec. 17, 2003.
Excelerate also announced complementary transactions with Belgian ship owner Exmar NV, which currently has two Energy Bridge vessels under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering shipyard in South Korea. In the first of a series of agreements, GKFF Ltd. is purchasing one of the ships from an Exmar affiliate and leasing it to Excelerate Energy LP under a 20-year Time Charter. In another transaction, Excelerate is leasing the second vessel from another Exmar affiliate, also for 20 years. Exmar will provide operational and technical services for both vessels. With long-term charters in place, Excelerate has the flexibility to serve market needs globally; however, the company intends to use the ships to deliver regasified LNG to the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater port facility location. As a result of these transactions, which are effective Dec. 17, 2003, certain commitments between El Paso and Exmar relating to these vessels entered into in early 2003 have been terminated.
Energy Bridge is an innovative technology in which a standard LNG shipping vessel is customized to convert liquefied natural gas to vapor on board the ship. Then, utilizing proven buoy technology that has been deployed for more than a decade in the harsh North Sea environment, gas flows through lines connected to the ship and linked to an existing network of underwater, high-pressure offshore natural gas pipelines. Because of its inherent mobility, the Energy Bridge system can be deployed virtually anywhere in the world to meet incremental demand for natural gas.
The proposed Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Port, which will be located 116 miles offshore Louisiana, will be capable of delivering baseload gas volumes in excess of 500 million cubic feet per day. The Energy Bridge port will be the first offshore LNG regasification terminal in the world and is scheduled to be capable of supplying natural gas to the U.S. market by late 2004 or early 2005.
According to Excelerate President Kathleen Eisbrenner, "Our Energy Bridge ships have the ability to fully service LNG terminals and deliver natural gas to high-pressure gas pipelines to onshore locations. However, when connected to a deepwater port, Energy Bridge technology adds numerous economic and environmental advantages. For example, because the port is offshore and away from land, we are able to avoid many of the challenges associated with building or expanding a conventional terminal in environmentally sensitive or populated areas," she said.
"The Energy Bridge system enables Excelerate to target specific, high-demand markets and provides a regional solution for North America's growing demand for natural gas at a cost that is competitive with other LNG and pipeline alternatives. Having been a part of developing Energy Bridge-from concept to execution-our team could not be more excited about the opportunity to facilitate deployment of the Energy Bridge ships on schedule to help meet the increasing demand for gas in the United States," said Eisbrenner.
The agreements between El Paso and Excelerate also allow Advanced Production and Loading AS of Norway (APL) to proceed with the manufacture and installation of their submerged buoy system (STL(tm)) that will be an integral component of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Bridge LNG receiving terminal.
Jens Kaalstad, president of APL, Inc, APL's U.S. operation, said, "We are pleased that Excelerate will carry on the Energy Bridge initiative and are proud that our STL technology will be deployed as part of the world's first offshore LNG receiving terminal. This technology will add considerable flexibility to the LNG market," he said.
Excelerate Energy is pursing opportunities in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) marketplace by developing effective, flexible and economic solutions for upstream producers and downstream customers. The combination of the company's risk appetite and its access to substantial capital, along with the leadership team's proven track record will accelerate its ability to serve the rapidly emerging liquefied natural gas market. Excelerate Energy is focused on delivering LNG to downstream markets by securing existing and projected regasification capacity, acquiring LNG shipping capacity through flexible time charters and ownership positions, purchasing LNG supplies on both a short-term and long-term basis, and executing contracts for natural gas off-take downstream of regasification terminals.