New Connections for FSRUs

Patrick Janssens, Vice President of Global Gas Solutions, ABS

The FSRU was originally conceived as part of a new gas supply infrastructure for the United States, in the days at the turn of the century when the world’s great minds ‘knew’ that the United States would become a leading LNG importer. Today, FSRUs are widely regarded as economically attractive alternatives to land-based LNG terminals, with shipowners, gas importers and energy companies viewing the vessels as a profitable means of accessing the gas revolution.

“Today there’s an ongoing quest in the energy sector to see how quickly it can develop new markets for natural gas, and determine what business models work best with these emerging markets,” Janssens says. “The case is especially strong for FSRUs when you’re dealing with companies that don’t have the available capital that can back big projects. FSRUs have started filling that market gap – and people around the world are starting to realize that the model works. Back in 2005, energy majors were very skeptical about the concept, but now consider FSRUs the key to accessing new markets economically and quickly,” Janssens adds.