Communication - Presse
EXIM Board of Directors Votes to Proceed with $4.7 Billion LNG Equipment and Services Transaction After Four-Year Delay
WASHINGTON, DC – The newly constituted Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) on Thursday, March 13, unanimously approved the second amendment of a 2019 direct loan of up to $4.7 billion to support the export of U.S. goods and services for the development and construction of an integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The financing for the project located on the Afungi Peninsula in northern Mozambique will support the engineering, procurement, and construction of the onshore LNG plant, related facilities, and offshore activities.
The transaction, which had been on a four-year pause, will support an estimated 16,400 good-paying American jobs which support workers and families at more than 68 companies across 14 states including Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, South Carolina, New Jersey, California, Nevada, Colorado and the District of Columbia. Follow-on states are expected to support thousands of additional jobs across the United States.
“I am pleased that in authorizing this amendment the Bank finally fulfills the commitment EXIM made nearly six years ago to this Mozambique LNG project, which is important to thousands of U.S. employees working for U.S. manufacturing and services companies,” said Acting President and Chairman Jim Cruse. “My hope is that moving this project forward will convey how serious EXIM is in its efforts to increase U.S. export competitiveness and that American workers should never be at a disadvantage against foreign competitors.”
Acting Vice Chairman Jim Burrows added, “This 2019 transaction, which is the largest deal in EXIM’s now 91-year history, finally can move forward so that thousands of American workers can export their “Made in the USA” equipment and services, something that instead would have gone to Chinese and Russian manufacturers but for President Trump’s leadership in reauthorizing EXIM. Our great U.S. companies large and small—including those that will benefit from this $4.7 billion EXIM loan, which will be repaid and generate $600 million in interest and fees for the U.S. Treasury—need a level playing field to compete in a world in which there are at least 115 competing foreign export credit agencies, many of which are proactively furthering the national interest objectives of their governments.”
In 2019, President Donald Trump reauthorized EXIM after four years of near closure in order to give American workers a level playing field, expand foreign markets for American-made goods, help create more great-paying jobs, provide equal footing for U.S. businesses by increasing their competitiveness globally, and ensure the world sees more products stamped with “Made in the USA.”
Now, as part of the second Trump Administration, EXIM proudly supports President Trump’s promises of creating employment opportunities for American workers, putting American workers first in trade, and undoing the harm to the American economy caused by the Biden Administration’s coercive climate policies.
Last year, numerous executives of U.S. companies, including manufacturers and service providers who plan to utilize U.S. subcontractors and the domestic supply chain of goods and services for the Mozambique project, contacted EXIM and the U.S. Congress urging the Board’s consideration and approval of the amendment for the globally strategic project. The executives who wrote to former EXIM Chairman Reta Jo Lewis on behalf of their employees and subcontractors so that thousands of U.S. jobs in support of the project could be assured included:
- Mr. Lorenzo Simonelli, Chairman & CEO, Baker Hughes, Houston, TX
- Mr. Peter de Laat, CEO, Brunel Energy Inc., Houston, TX
- Mr. Mark D. Butts, CEO, CB&I, Houston, TX
- Mr. Shane Reph, COO, Ebara Elliott Energy, Jeannette, PA
- Mr. Lee Jordan, CEO, Gate Energy, Houston, TX
- Ms. Kathryn Renee Eberwein, CEO, Global Edge Group, LLC, and its affiliate companies, The Woodlands, TX
- Mr. Ken West, President and CEO, Energy & Sustainability Solutions, Honeywell, Charlotte, NC
- Mr. James J. Kirchdorfer, Jr., CEO, ISCO industries, Inc., Louisville, KY
- Captain William G. Schubert, President & CEO, International Trade & Transportation, Inc., Pineville, TX
- Mr. Jonathan Motherwell, President, Jonathan T. Motherwell and Associates, LLC, The Woodlands, TX
- Mr. Michael McKelvy, President and CEO, McDermott, Houston, TX
- Mr. Paul Jacob, General Manager, Ocean Flow International, LLC, Houston, TX
- Mr. Felipe Gonzalez, President, PERC Engineering, LLC, Houston, TX
- Ms. Mary Zappone, CEO, Sundyne, LLC, Arvada, CO
- Mr. Douglas Pferdehirt, CEO, TechnipFMC, Houston, TX
- Mr. Quintin Kneen, President & CEO, Tidewater Inc., Houston, TX
- Mr. Donnie Smith, CEO, W-Industries, Spring, TX
- Mr. Darton Zink, President & CEO, Zeeco, Inc., Tulsa, OK
These executives emphasized the critical role EXIM financing played in the successful completion of the project while noting the effects the continued delay of the project’s start could have on U.S. companies looking to do business in the region, stating that “without EXIM's approval of the amendment allowing the restart of construction, we consider that the project as currently defined will be jeopardized. Any potential new project would require new contractual arrangements and potentially new project participants with different geopolitical interests, an outcome that would be disadvantageous to all U.S. corporations that may compete for project contracts.” The letter continued on to note that “EXIM is considered a bellwether export credit agency, and your approval of the amendment is essential so that construction may be resumed as early as possible in 2025.”
This second amendment, which contains no material change from the original approval and thus is not subject to additional U.S. Congressional notification, extends certain dates and makes related changes in connection with the restart of project construction operations following a security related force majeure declaration by the project operator in April 2021. Consistent with President Trump’s goal of ushering in an American manufacturing renaissance, the EXIM team thoroughly reviewed the physical security situation of the project. Upon conclusion of the review, EXIM determined that the security risks to the project had been properly addressed, with substantial systems in place and appropriate management plans and mitigation applied to respond appropriately to evolving security concerns.
“At a time when EXIM’s finance export support is vital to the U.S. supply chain,” said Director Spencer Bachus III, “the vote taken to authorize this amendment to the Mozambique LNG project reinforces the fact U.S. manufacturers require a diversified portfolio of U.S. and international export projects to remain competitive and viable.”
Both during the initial consideration of the 2019 transaction and today, EXIM upheld and will continue to uphold its statutory requirements as set by Congress, including the prohibition on discrimination based on industry, sector, or business. This project, which supports the export of U.S. equipment and services, will not compete in any harmful way with the production of U.S. LNG. EXIM is required by statute to conduct an economic impact analysis for each of its transactions and concluded with independent experts that the transaction would likely have a net positive impact on the U.S. economy, based on supply/demand analysis over the life of the loan.
