The Norwegian company will lease a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to Klaipėdos Nafta, the developer of the LNG terminal project, with an option to purchase the vessel after the ten-year lease period ends.
However, Klaipėdos Nafta CEO Rokas Masiulis would not disclose at what price the state-controlled company would be able to purchase the FSRU, but made it clear that the company's operating costs would go down significantly following the acquisition.
"We estimate that Hoegh gets an 11-percent margin. We looked at how much it would cost to build such a vessel at Hyundai (Heavy Industries)," Masiulis said during a lecture at Vilnius University on Thursday.
"Our cooperation with Hoegh is really very good. To show us that they are honest people, they put their contract with Hyundai on the table. We calculated that eventually they put on an 11 percent margin for themselves. I think this is a very fair price for all that know-how, the design and the project," he said.
Masiulis said that under its contract with Hoegh, Klaipėdos Nafta would pay 43 million euros per year for the lease of the FSRU, including its maintenance and operation, the crew and other expenses.
The CEO did not disclose the price at which Klaipėdos Nafta would be able to buy the FSRU in ten years. He said that the company's costs would decline considerably after the purchase.
"The price is really good. There is a very high chance that we will buy that ship. Even if we don't use it, we'll sell it," he said, adding that it was the first FSRU in the world's market offered for lease with a purchase option.
South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries has already started building the FSRU. Klaipėdos Nafta said in mid-November that the total amount of steel required for the structure, around 25,000 tons, would be produced by the end of the year. Previously, it had been planned that steel-cutting work would last until March 2013.
The ten-year lease period will begin in the second half of 2014. It is planned that the LNG terminal in Klaipėda will have an annual capacity of 2 billion to 3 billion cubic meters.
