PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) says it has signed a new USD 110 million credit facility, for ten years, with three leading international banks: ING BANK N.V.; SMBC BANK EU AG and UNICREDIT BANK AG.
The facility will be used to finance two new ice-class shuttle tankers, to be delivered in Q1 2022, to serve the Sakhalin-1 project (oil and gas development in the Sea of Okhotsk, on the north-eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island, Russia).
Exxon Neftegas Ltd. (an affiliate of Exxon Mobil) is the project’s operator and acts as the charterer for the vessels.
The new vessels will incorporate advanced design features that meet the latest environmental requirements, providing improved fuel efficiency and decreased CO2 emissions by at least 10% (when compared with previous generations of shuttle tankers). Delivery of the vessels will further enlarge SCF Group’s industrial business portfolio, adding more than USD 300 million in value to Sovcomflot’s contract backlog.
Nikolay Kolesnikov, Executive Vice-President and CFO of Sovcomflot, said:
"We are grateful to our long-standing financial partners for their continued support of SCF’s business. We are also pleased that this financing reflected the Poseidon Principles, an initiative by the banking community allowing control of GHG emissions of their shipping portfolios and aimed at decarbonisation of the shipping industry. This new loan agreement demonstrates the high level of interest and support of international lenders to SCF Group, as well as the company’s uninterrupted access to diversified sources of capital amid the market cyclicality. The completion of this project credit facility allows us to address in full funding requirements for new vessel deliveries in 2022."
Sakhalin-1 is an international project operated by Exxon Neftegaz. The project consortium also includes Rosneft (Russia), ONGC Videsh (India), and SODECO (Japan).
Sovcomflot has served this project since 2006. Seven SCF vessels are serving Sakhalin-1, including five Aframax shuttle tankers of 1C ice class and two icebreaking supply vessels of Icebreaker ICE-10 ice class.
PAO Sovcomflot (MOEX:FLOT) is one of the world's leading energy shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, as well as the servicing of offshore oil and gas production. As of the date of this release, the Group’s fleet comprises 135 vessels with a total deadweight of 11.67 million tonnes, including vessels owned through joint ventures. More than 80 vessels have an ice class.
Sovcomflot is involved in servicing large oil and gas projects in Russia and around the world: Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, Varandey, Prirazlomnoe, Novy Port, Yamal LNG, Tangguh (Indonesia). The company is headquartered in Saint Petersburg, with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, and Dubai.