K Line takes stake in 2nd FPSO as it eyes business expansion with Yinson and Sumitomo

Japanese shipping company K Line has inked a deal with Malaysian energy major Yinson Holdings Berhad and Sumitomo Corporation to participate in the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) owning and chartering business for the Marlim II Project, offshore Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Upon stable operations of the FPSO being achieved in 2023, K Line is set to have around a 10% stake in the FPSO venture.

This project represents K Line’s second FPSO business following the offshore Ghana oil and gas field development project based on the partnership with Yinson and Sumitomo, in which the company took part in 2018.

To remind, four Japanese companies joined forces in 2017, namely K Line, Sumitomo Corporation, JGC Corporation, and Development Bank of Japan Inc, with the signing of heads of agreement to jointly acquire 26% of the share of Yinson Production (West Africa) Pte. Ltd., an FPSO owning company operated by Yinson.

“K Line will efficiently accumulate the knowledge and expertise of operation and maintenance of FPSO by dispatching its technical personnel to Yinson’s project team in Singapore from this year onwards,” the company said.

The Japanese major said it wants to expand FPSO business with Yinson and Sumitomo as a core business as it generates ‘long term and stable profits, and utilize the accumulated know-how in the succeeding FPSO projects and new energy-related businesses.’

The FPSO is planned to serve the Marlim oil and gas field revitalization project, which is operated by Petrobras and situated 150 kilometers off the Brazilian coast in the Campos Basin.

Operations are expected to commence by the first quarter of 2023, with a 25-year charter period thereafter, with no options for extension.