Financial Close for Bahrain LNG Terminal

The private-public partnership  is being developed to supplement local gas production in Bahrain and ensure capacity to meet peak seasonal gas demand and industrial growth. Financing a project of this size and complexity is a landmark in the regional financial markets.

According to the company, nine banks were lending the $741mn it will cost to build the plant and related infrastructure, capable of handling 800 million standard cubic feet per day when complete in 2019. The project includes a nitrogen facility, to lower the calorific value of imports as needed.

Bahrain LNG is jointly owned by Bahrain's oil and gas holding (NOGA) and a consortium consisting of Teekay LNG Partners, Gulf Investment Corporation and Samsung C&T.

Standard Chartered, Arab Petroleum Investments Corp (APICORP), and Korea Development Bank were the institutions leading the limited recourse project financing, which was provided by nine international and regional lenders.

About 80 percent of the financing was backed by commercial and political risk cover provided by export credit agency Korea Trade Insurance Corporation.

Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Minister of Oil, commented: “The Bahrain LNG Import Terminal is a key component of our plans for the further expansion of the energy and related sectors of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The achievement of financial close is a critical milestone in the continued development of the Bahrain LNG Import Terminal Project and we congratulate the sponsors, their supporting lenders and K-SURE on their achievement after many months of sustained effort.”

Dr. Dafer Al Jalahma, Chief Executive of nogaholding commented: “It is encouraging to see the successful closing of the financing for the project, and for the strong support shown by lenders and K-SURE that resulted in the attractive terms achieved. I commend the nogaholding team for its sustained effort to achieve this result.”