Norton Rose Fulbright advises Total Marine Fuels on 10-year LNG bunkering contract with Pavilion Energy

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Total Marine Fuels, a subsidiary of French energy conglomerate Total SA on signing a 10-year contract with Pavilion Energy Singapore Pte. Ltd. to develop liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker supply facilities in Singapore.

Signed on December 13, 2019, the agreement comprises the shared long-term use of a new build 12,000m³ GTT Mark III Flex membrane LNG bunker vessel (LNGBV) that will allow each party to supply LNG bunkers to its respective customers, and a LNG supply arrangement between the two companies.

Working in support of Total Marine Fuels’ in-house legal team, the Norton Rose Fulbright team on the deal was led by Singapore partner Ben Smith, and included associate William Holmden, Hong Kong partner Marc Waha and senior associate Nicolas Cassauba.

Ben Smith commented:

“We are pleased to have assisted Total on its latest project in Singapore, a cooperation agreement which establishes a robust LNG bunker supply chain for the regional market. This deal paves the way towards the development of LNG as a marine fuel. The use of LNG as a maritime fuel is a very important option for the maritime sector as it seeks to meet much tighter controls on the emissions of sulphur imposed by the IMO in 2020 and on the longer term objective of reducing greenhouse emissions in the maritime sector. This transaction brought together Singapore’s local champion in the LNG sector, Pavilion Energy, with one of the global giants of the industry, Total. The LNG Bunker vessel being built will be one of the first two to serve Singapore’s LNG marine bunkers market. We anticipate a significant growth in LNG projects involving smaller LNG vessels, and the use of regional hubs like Singapore.”

Total is the second-largest private global LNG player, with an overall portfolio of around 50 Mt/y by 2025 and a worldwide market share of 10 per cent.

Norton Rose Fulbright is one of Total’s global panel members. Its LNG expertise was considered a key factor for its successful support to Total’s in-house legal team in this project.