The developer of Bahrain’s first receiving and regasification terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has sealed a US$741mn syndicated loan for the platform’s construction.

Bahrain LNG has closed a limited recourse financing with a syndicate of nine international and regional banks. The loan has a tenor of 20 years, and Korea’s export credit agency Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-sure) provided commercial and political risk cover for about 80% of the financing.

Standard Chartered, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation and the Korea Development Bank acted as lead banks. The syndicate also includes Ahli United Bank, Santander, Crédit Agricole, ING Bank, Natixis and Société Générale.

The project will comprise a floating storage unit, an offshore LNG receiving jetty and breakwater, an adjacent regasification platform, subsea and onshore gas pipeline connecting the regasification platform to an onshore gas receiving facility, and an onshore nitrogen production facility.

The import terminal will be located offshore, approximately 4 km east of the onshore receiving facility at the Khalifa Bin Salman Port. Construction will begin this month and is expected to be completed by 2019. The terminal will have a capacity of 800 million standard cubic feet per day and will be operated under a 20-year agreement.

“Financing a project of this size and complexity is a landmark in the regional financial markets,” Bahrain LNG says in a statement. “The project is being developed to supplement local gas production in Bahrain and ensure capacity to meet peak seasonal gas demand and industrial growth. It will also enable Bahrain to procure internationally-traded LNG on a competitive basis.”

Bahrain LNG is jointly owned by Bahrain’s Oil and Gas Holding Company (Nogaholding) and a consortium consisting of Teekay LNG Partners, Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) and Samsung. The consortium won the project in December 2015 following an international tendering process, and GS Engineering & Construction was awarded the EPC contract.