January 2, 2024 [LNG Prime]- US LNG firm Tellurian, the developer of the Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana, said it had appointed a financial adviser to assist with shaping commercial structures as well as balance sheet management.
Tellurian’s co-founder Martin Houston and new chairman of the board revealed this in a letter sent to shareholders on December 28.
The company recently appointed Houston as the chairman replacing Charif Souki, who has left the Driftwood LNG terminal developer.
Houston said in the letter that it has been “busy” in the last three weeks since he took over as the company’s chairman.
He said that the company “started by realigning our resources at the top level to create greater focus on project and commercial delivery, to improve our liquidity position and to strengthen our balance sheet.”
According to Houston, Tellurian agreed and announced a $37.9 million debt for equity swap with its principal lender and attracted a “significant new investor”.
Tellurian said in a filling on December 28 that it had entered into a letter agreement with an institutional investor pursuant to which the company agreed to issue to the investor 47,865,061 shares of common stock.
In addition, a separate filing showed that Chatterjee Fund Management had increased its stake in Tellurian to 7.3 percent.
Houston said in the letter that the company has reviewed its commercial activities in detail and added new potential counterparties.
He also said that the newly appointed financial advisor “will provide valuable assistance and guidance in the coming weeks.”
“I hope that these early steps will go some way to helping bolster confidence in the leadership of your company and illustrate the manner in which we intend to communicate with you,” Houston said.
As per the Driftwood project, Tellurian issued a limited notice to proceed to compatriot engineering and construction giant Bechtel in March last year and Bechtel has driven more than 11,800 piles at the site.
Under the first phase, Tellurian aims to build two LNG plants near Lake Charles with an export capacity of up to 11 mtpa.
However, the company is still working to secure financing for the project.
Tellurian previously said it expects the first phase to cost about $14.5 billion with about $6 billion equity investment.
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