Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) specialist Golar LNG has closed and drawn a new $1.2bn asset-backed debt facility for the refinancing of FLNG Gimi.
The facility was agreed with a consortium of banks, including ABN AMRO, Citibank, DNB, Goldman Sachs, and Standard Chartered Bank.
The new $1.2bn bank facility replaces an existing bank facility with an outstanding amount of $627m as of the third quarter of 2025.
The new debt facility has a seven-year tenor, 16-year amortisation profile and will incur interest at SOFR plus a margin of 2.50% per annum.
Golar’s 70% share of the net liquidity released from the bank refinancing amounts to approximately $400m after repayment of the existing Gimi debt facility and unwinding of the existing interest-rate swap.
“The new facility has improved terms compared to Gimi’s initial financing facility, which was put in place upon ordering of the FLNG Gimi,” said Karl Fredrik Staubo, Golar CEO.
The vessel is operating at BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project offshore Mauritania and Senegal under a long-term contract until 2045. It can store up to 125,000 cu m of LNG.