LNG

Italian energy company Eni said it started installation work on the hull of the Coral South floating liquefied natural gas production plant to be deployed offshore Mozambique for start-up in 2022.

Anadarko Petroleum, the US company that has just agreed to be taken over by Occidental Petroleum and whose liquefied natural gas and African assets will be sold to French major Total in a side deal, has made additional LNG volume sales to Japan and Taiwan for the Mozambique LNG project.

Anadarko said the Mozambique LNG Company Ltd., the jointly owned sales entity of the Mozambique Area co-venturers, has signed a joint sale and purchase agreement with JERA Co. Inc, Japan’s biggest LNG buyer, and CPC Corp. of Taiwan.

The deal is for the sale of 1.6 million tonnes per annum for a base term of 17 years from the commercial start date and on a delivered ex-ship basis whereby the sellers, Anadarko’s successors and its partners, supply the shipping.

“This co-purchasing agreement with JERA and CPC brings together two prominent Asian foundation customers and will ensure a reliable supply of cleaner energy to meet the growing demands of both Japan and Taiwan,” said Mitch Ingram, Anadarko Executive Vice President for the international business.

“We are excited to take the next step with the expected announcement of a final investment decision (FID) for the Mozambique LNG project on June 18, as we remain on track to complete the project financing process and secure final approvals,” added Ingram.

“This new SPA brings our total long-term agreements to 11.1 MTPA, and we are extremely pleased and grateful to JERA and CPC for selecting Mozambique LNG to be part of their long-term energy portfolio,” state the Anadarko executive.

Anadarko has agreed to a takeover by Occidental after a bid valued at $55Bln when Anadarko’s debts are included, was chosen in preference to a rival bid from Chevron Corp.

Occidental has already offset $8.8Bln of its acquisition agreement for Anadarko by agreeing to sell Total its Mozambique LNG stake and its African oil and gas assets.

Anadarko is operator of the Mozambique project and has a 26.5 percent stake and operatorship of the Area 1 Rovuma Basin reserves that underpin the LNG venture.

Other shareholders in the Area 1 licence and LNG project include the Japanese trading house Mitsui and Co. and three Indian companies, Bharat Petro Resources, ONGC Videsh and Oil India Ltd., as well as Thailand’s national energy company PTTEP and the Mozambique state-owned oil and gas firm ENH.

The onshore Mozambique project will have phase one output of almost 12.9 MTPA.

Anadarko and its partners have signed up previous sales agreements for 9.5 MTPA of cargoes from the Mozambique project with Royal Dutch Shell, China National Offshore Oil Corp., Tokyo Gas, the UK’s Centrica, France's EDF and Indonesian energy company Pertamina.

Two other projects are planned in Mozambique from the Area 4 licence resources held by Italian energy company Eni and partners.

These include the Coral floating LNG joint venture with capacity of around 3.4 MTPA already under construction and scheduled to come on stream in 2022.

The Area 4 onshore Mamba LNG project is also expected to be sanctioned in 2019 and production is scheduled to start in 2024.

The Area 4 consortium is formed by Mozambique Rovuma Ventures, comprising Eni 25 percent, ExxonMobil 25 percent and China National Petroleum Corp. (PetroChina) with 20 percent.

The remaining 30 percent of shares in that licence are held in parcels of 10 percent by South Korean utility and energy company Korea Gas Corp., Galp Energia of Portugal and Mozambique’s ENH.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the US energy company in the midst of a takeover duel between Chevron Corp. and Occidental Petroleum, reported a net loss in its first-quarter earnings, though this was offset by advances made in its Mozambique LNG export project.

The company, whose headquarters are near Houston, reported a net loss of $15 million with one-off charges of $274M amid total cash flow of $1.12 billion, lower than the 1.43Bln posted in the same quarter of 2018.

Anadarko's first-quarter 2019 sales of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids totaled 64 million barrels of oil equivalent, or an average of 715,000 barrels per day and which included 412,000 barrels of oil.

Anadarko is the subject of the takeover bids because of its strength in US shale production, especially in the Delaware Basin of Texas and New Mexico. Its other main US assets are in Colorado and the Gulf of Mexico.

It also owns valuable assets in deep water oil and LNG, including Anadarko’s planned onshore development in Mozambique which is advancing, according to its latest earnings statement.

“The company continued to make significant progress with its Mozambique LNG project, announcing Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPAs) now totaling more than 9.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), with two additional SPAs in the final stages of execution that, if executed, would bring the total volume to more than 11 MTPA,” said Anadarko.

“During the quarter, the project also was designated as the first mover by the Government of Mozambique for the marine facilities to support the onshore LNG industry in Mozambique,” it added.

“The company remains positioned to take a final investment decision during the first half of this year,” stated Anadarko.

In the past week, Anadarko received a take-over offer of $38 billion from Occidental after accepting a $33Bln offer in mid-April from Chevron.

The competition to acquire Anadarko may force Chevron to consider whether it should make a higher offer.

Anadarko said its stockholders were advised to take no action at this time.

Analysts noted that Chevron is a substantial LNG player and operates two world-class plants in Western Australia and would fit with Anadarko’s development plans for Mozambique.

The $33Bln bid from Chevron and the $38Bln offer from Occidental would be valued at an additional $17Bln because of the scale of Anadarko’s debt commitments.

Anadarko had said on April 12 it had accepted Chevron’s bid after rejecting an initial approach from Occidental that fell short of a full bid.

Occidental, a major North American chemicals manufacturer, has no LNG assets and is centred on US oil and gas as well as midstream, marketing and refining.

The Anadarko-led Mozambique venture will be the African nation’s first onshore development, initially consisting of two liquefaction Trains.

The feed-gas will come from the Golfinho-Atum gas fields located within Anadarko’s offshore Area 1 licence of the Rovuma Basin.

The Mozambique plant is being built near the port of Pemba in the northeast Cabo Delgado Province, about 900 kilometres north of Beira.

The Anadarko venture already has supply deals with European utilities Centrica of the UK and French utility EDF, the Japanese utilities Tokyo Gas and Tohoku Electric and energy companies, Royal Dutch Shell, China National Offshore Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum of India.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of the US said the joint venture partners developing the onshore LNG export project with feed-gas assets from the Rovuma Basin in Mozambique have signed yet another Sale and Purchase Agreement and this time with a subsidiary of stakeholder Bharat Petroleum Corp. of India.