VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES ("VIE") (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES [Abstract]

The following table gives a summary of the sale and leaseback arrangements, including repurchase options and obligations as of December 31, 2015:



Vessel	Effective from	Sales value (in $ millions)	First repurchase option (in $ millions)	Date of first repurchase option	Repurchase obligation at end of lease term (in $ millions)	End of lease term
Golar Glacier	October 2014	204.0	173.8	October 2019	142.7	October 2024
Golar Kelvin	January 2015	204.0	173.8	January 2020	142.7	January 2025
Golar Snow	January 2015	204.0	173.8	January 2020	142.7	January 2025
Golar Ice	February 2015	204.0	173.8	February 2020	142.7	February 2025
Golar Tundra	November 2015	254.6	194.1	November 2018	101.8	November 2025

Summary of the bareboat charter rates per day based on Base LIBOR Interest Rate for the next five years

A summary of our payment obligations (excluding repurchase options and obligations) under the bareboat charters with the lessor VIEs as of December 31, 2015, are shown below:



(in $ thousands)	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021+
Golar Glacier	17,147	17,100	17,100	17,100	17,147	64,137
Golar Kelvin	17,147	17,100	17,100	17,100	17,147	66,995
Golar Snow	17,147	17,100	17,100	17,100	17,147	66,995
Golar Ice	17,147	17,100	17,100	17,100	17,147	69,899
Golar Tundra	12,729	12,729	12,729	12,729	12,729	61,522

Schedule of assets and liabilities of lessor VIEs

The assets and liabilities of the ICBCL and CMBL lessor VIEs that most significantly impact our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, are as follows:



(in $ thousands)	Golar Glacier	Golar Kelvin	Golar Snow	Golar Ice	Golar Tundra	2015	2014
Assets						Total	Total
Restricted cash and short term receivables (see note 20)	7,132	16,942	8,648	2,728	—	35,450	—
Restricted cash - held-for-sale current assets ⁽¹⁾ (see note 19)	—	—	—	—	3,618	3,618	—
	7,132	16,942	8,648	2,728	3,618	39,068	—

Liabilities
Debt:
Short-term interest bearing debt (see note 25)	31,826	182,540	22,566	172,046	—	408,978	31,826
Long-term interest bearing debt - current portion (see note 25)	7,650	—	8,000	—	—	15,650	7,650
Long-term interest bearing debt - non-current portion (see note 25)	137,700	—	148,000	—	—	285,700	145,350
Short-term interest bearing debt - held-for-sale ⁽¹⁾ (see note 19)	—	—	—	—	201,725	201,725	—
	177,176	182,540	178,566	172,046	201,725	912,053	184,826


(1)	The assets and liabilities relating to the Golar Tundra lessor VIE have been reclassified as “held-for-sale” in connection with the sale of our interests in the companies that own and operate the vessel to Golar Partners (see note 19).

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the significant judgments and assumptions made in determining whether a variable interest (as defined) held by the entity requires the variable interest entity (VIE) (as defined) to be consolidated and (or) disclose information about its involvement with the VIE, individually or in aggregate (as applicable); the nature of restrictions, if any, on the consolidated VIE's assets and on the settlement of its liabilities reported by an entity in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets and liabilities; the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with involvement in the VIE; how involvement with the VIE affects the entity's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows; the lack of recourse if creditors (or beneficial interest holders) of the consolidated VIE have no recourse to the general credit of the primary beneficiary (if applicable); the terms of arrangements, giving consideration to both explicit arrangements and implicit variable interests, if any, that could require the entity to provide financial support to the VIE, including events or circumstances that could expose the entity to a loss; the methodology used by the entity for determining whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of the variable interest entity; the significant factors considered and judgments made in determining that the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance are shared (as defined); the carrying amounts and classification of assets and liabilities of the VIE included in the statement of financial position; the entity's maximum exposure to loss, if any, as a result of its involvement with the VIE, including how the maximum exposure is determined and significant sources of the entity's exposure to the VIE; a comparison of the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities and the entity's maximum exposure to loss; information about any liquidity arrangements, guarantees, and (or) other commitments by third parties that may affect the fair value or risk of the entity's variable interest in the VIE; whether or not the entity has provided financial support or other support (explicitly or implicitly) to the VIE that it was not previously contractually required to provide or whether the entity intends to provide that support, including the type and amount of the support and the primary reasons for providing the support; and supplemental information the entity determines necessary to provide.

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