French energy major Total said at the LNG2019 conference in Shanghai that it had signed a series of agreements to strengthen its foothold on the US Gulf Coast with equity stakes and additional volumes.
Total said it signed its deals with Tellurian Inc., a company in which it already has shares and the developer of the Driftwood LNG project in Louisiana.
The accords signed were a Heads of Agreement committing Total to invest in the development company Driftwood Holdings and another to take its supply from the venture to 2.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG.
Total said it would make an additional equity investment in the Driftwood LNG joint venture and purchase more offtake.
The final environmental impact statement was issued by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January 2019 to develop the liquefaction plant to produce around 27.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG.
Tellurian and Total said they planned a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) for a further 1.5 MTPA of LNG from Tellurian Marketing’s offtake volumes from the Driftwood venture.
The sales agreement will be for the purchase of free-on-board (FOB) whereby Total supplies the shipping for a minimum term of 15 years and at a price based on the Platts Japan Korea Marker (JKM).
Total’s equity agreement gives the French company an additional 20 million shares of Tellurian common stock for an amount of $200 million, adding its previous investment.
The agreements are subject to the relevant regulatory approvals and to the final investment decision of the Driftwood project.
“These agreements increase our commitment to Driftwood LNG, a highly cost-competitive project that benefits from the low gas production costs and prices in the US,” said Patrick Pouyanne Chairman and Chief Executive of Total.
“In line with our strategy to become a major LNG portfolio player, this transaction will add 2.5 MTPA of competitive US LNG to Total’s portfolio and strengthen our positions in the US,” added Pouyanne.
Total has been a shareholder in Nasdaq-listed Tellurian since 2017, after the Group acquired 46 million shares for an amount of $207M.
Tellurian said it was expecting to have about six partners-customers when it takes its final investment decision for the first phase of the joint venture near Lake Charles that will cost a total of $30 billion.
The company is expected to take its final investment decision by mid-2019 and would progress to producing the first LNG in 2023 and complete the project in 2026.
