Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. company New Fortress Energy Inc said on Tuesday it planned to finish building its first
Fast LNG unit in May before moving the plant to offshore
Altamira in Mexico in June and producing liquefied natural gas
(LNG) there in July.
"We're less than 100 days away from our first (Fast) LNG
setting sale to its home in Altamira, Mexico," New Fortress CFO
Christopher Guinta told analysts on a fourth quarter earnings
call.
New Fortress stock, however, dropped about 15% to an
11-month low of $32.82 on Tuesday.
"A negative initial reaction isn't totally surprising given
the Fast LNG delays and (fourth quarter) EBITDA (Earnings Before
Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) miss," analysts
at investment banking firm Jefferies said in a note.
Jefferies said the target to finish the first Fast LNG unit
moved to May from March.
New Fortress has said it was developing five Fast LNG units
with two expected to go to offshore Altamira, one to the
offshore Lakach gas field in Mexico and two to offshore
Louisiana.
Each unit can turn about 0.18 billion cubic feet per day
(bcfd) of natural gas into about 1.4 million tonnes per annum
(MTPA) of LNG.
Analysts at ClearView Energy Partners LLC, an independent
research firm, said over the weekend that the U.S. Department of
Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD), which
regulates offshore LNG projects like Fast LNG, could approve the
Louisiana project as soon as September.
That, however, assumes MARAD does not stop the clock on its
review of the project again, ClearView said. MARAD has already
stopped the clock twice - in August and November 2022.
Before MARAD stopped the clock on its review, New Fortress
was hoping to start producing LNG in Louisiana as soon as March
2023.
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EXPLAINER-Could the U.S. ship more LNG to Europe? UPDATE 3-EU clinches U.S. LNG deal, brushes off Russian rouble
demand FACTBOX-North American liquefied natural gas export projects New Fortress Energy Files Permit Application to Deploy its Fast
LNG Solution in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting By Scott DiSavino; editing by Grant McCool)
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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