THERE was no hint of hesitation when Steven Kobos was asked to say what influenced his company’s decision to acquire New Fortress Energy Inc.

“It’s the quality of these assets. I mean, this is a very good platform that’s been built,” Kobos, the president and chief executive officer of Excelerate Energy, told the Jamaica Observer in an exclusive interview on May 15, the day after the US$1.055-billion acquisition was finalised.

“This is a major step, and we wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t think that these were great assets, if we didn’t think that Jamaica was a good place for foreign direct investment, and if we didn’t know that there’s good human talent available [in Jamaica],” Kobos added.

“We know there are opportunities for growth within the island and externally, so that’s kind of driving the investment decision,” he said further.

Under the terms of the agreement, Excelerate now owns the assets and operations of the Montego Bay liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, the Old Harbour LNG terminal, and the Clarendon combined heat and power co-generation plant.

In a news release ahead of the acquisition, Kobos had explained that the transaction “represents an important milestone in the execution of Excelerate’s downstream growth strategy”.

“It will expand and diversify our platform, while positioning Excelerate as the key provider of essential LNG import infrastructure in a desirable and growing Atlantic basin natural gas market,” he said, adding that the assets complement Excelerate’s existing operational expertise and its long-term LNG supply agreements, while offering the potential for future growth opportunities as natural gas becomes an increasingly essential part of Jamaica’s energy mix.

“I think what Jamaica has achieved already in LNG has been important. It has helped with economic development, industrial opportunity, lower energy costs, all those things. So what we look for is a platform that we could grow from and that’s what we saw here, just great geographic location. It’s a good opportunity for us to continue to build on this base, a springboard into the rest of the Caribbean,” Kobos told the Sunday Observer, reiterating that New Fortress’s assets and operations are “a good business that we wanted to acquire”.

Jamaica’s proximity to the United States also offers Excelerate greater access to shipping routes in this region.

“All that LNG that is going from the US to Europe and elsewhere in the world, it has to go right by here,” he said. “I’m excited, not just about things within Jamaica, but how we can build on bunkering out of Jamaica for all these ships that are passing through…I mean, it’s just a great geographic location.”

News of Excelerate’s entry into Jamaica gained worldwide attention in the renewable energy sector, given the spread of the company’s operations globally. Currently it has a presence in the United States, England, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Argentina, India, Qatar, Vietnam, Finland, Brazil, Singapore, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Germany.

The company, which states that it has more than 60 years of combined customer regasification experience, has earned a reputation as the leading floating LNG solutions innovator and provider.

On its website it says that it has the largest fleet in the industry, 11 floating storage regasification units (FSRUs) — vessels that can transport, store, and re-gasify LNG onboard — in operation or under construction.

Excelerate also states that it has transferred more than 312 million cubic metres of LNG — the most of any company.

Regarding the company’s operations in Jamaica, Kobos said Excelerate intends to build out the existing platform, a move that would “help grow the economy” and “support energy transition” plus help lower energy costs.

The American businessman is satisfied with the reception he and his company received here in the lead-up to the acquisition, even as he admitted that, like all the other markets in which Excelerate has a presence, he’s playing catch-up, as one can never know everything at the start of a business relationship.

“You keep engaging with people, you keep reading, you know, you do everything you can to understand each country and where they are on energy transition, where they are on economic development and the need for energy…I like so much of what I’ve seen about Jamaica, but, you know, we’ve tried to engage with all the stakeholders throughout this process…to make sure that they would be as excited as we are about our desire to grow, to introduce more capital, all those things,” Kobos told the Sunday Observer.

Asked about his long-term plans for the company in this region, Kobos said, “Well, we don’t like to sit still. We like to do more…I hope everybody in Jamaica is going to see that we are interested in being a good partner, part of the community. We really do want to enhance economic opportunity for everyone and we’ve seen that in other markets where we are…the more you can scale reliable, sustainable energy, everywhere we go, it just produces economic development. So, I think there is that opportunity here,” said Kobos.

Pointing to the company’s expertise in LNG infrastructure and operations, the Excelerate president said, “bringing that expertise, that history, together with the ability — from a robust balance sheet — to deploy more capital, I think that will be something that will be good for Jamaica and the region…I think we have a chance to make a difference.”

“I know there are significant ambitions for renewables within Jamaica; we are all for that. We think we are a good partner of that,” he said.

“I think we are going to be a good fit here, and we understand how critical what we provide in every country is… We take seriously that people rely on what we offer… we are a real operating company all over the world; we handle our own operations, and, we’re excited to offer that same level of service here,” Kobos said.