LNG

Venture Global’s average liquefaction fee surged 69% in the second quarter to an average $6.45 per million British thermal units, up from $3.82/MMBtu in the first quarter, as higher LNG prices lifted returns on commissioning cargoes and short-term sales, the company said in a regulatory filing.

BP has secured an arbitration victory against Venture Global which was found in breach over its failure to deliver contracted cargoes from the Calcasieu Pass facility. Seeking over $1 billion in damages, BP stressed it will "vigorously defend" its position in subsequent proceedings.

May 15 (LNGJ) - UK LNG deliveries have slowed markedly in the past month but a cargo is now scheduled for May 21 at the South Hook LNG import terminal at the Port of Milford Haven.

   The vessel “GasLog Westminster” with 180,000 cubic metre of capacity is scheduled to discharge a shipment at the terminal that was lifted on May 9 from the Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana.

Venture Global LNG, the developer of the Plaquemines export plant on the Mississippi River, expects in new regulatory filings to begin production around mid-2024 at the eighth US LNG export facility and the second plant owned and operated by Venture Global.

The Arlington, Virginia-based company has requested approval from the US Department of Energy’s Fossil Fuels body to receive up to three imported LNG cargoes as part of the Plaquemines commissioning process to cool down equipment ahead of the plant start-up.

Plaquemines has also asked for and received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval for natural gas supply to be delivered on its Gator Express pipeline venture.

“Plaquemines LNG submitted Volume 321 of the Implementation Plan, which contained information regarding the introduction of gas to the gas gate,” said the FERC filing.

LNG confidential

Plaquemines also requested that the response and attachments “be treated as both privileged and confidential and withheld from public disclosure” as they contain proprietary information used by Plaquemines LNG and its third-party consultants that is “customarily treated” as privileged and confidential.

Even though the role of the FERC is to inform the public about energy developments Venture Global has almost permanently requested non-disclosure by the FERC as the information “could result in commercial and competitive harm” to Plaquemines LNG and its consultants.

The Plaquemines liquefaction facility is on a 630-acre site with 1.3 miles of Mississippi River frontage.

The Gator Express venture comprises two pipelines, each with capacity of around 1.9 billion cubic feet per day to deliver natural gas from pipeline interconnections to the Plaquemines plant located about 20 miles south of New Orleans.

The liquefaction plant’s total planned capacity is 20 million tonnes per annum with the first phase to produce 10 MTPA.

Long commissioning

Venture Global's existing Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana shipped its first cargo in March 2022 and comprises 18 small-scale modular liquefaction Trains each with 0.626 million tonnes per annum of capacity and configured in nine blocks for total nameplate output of 11.26 MTPA.

In addition to the Plaquemines plant Venture Global is developing the CP2 project, so called because it will be built adjacent to the Calcasieu Pass facility, and the Delta LNG plant.

The three newer plants will each have nameplate capacity of around 20 MTPA.

Venture Global has signed up many energy companies from around the world as long-term customers for its various projects.

The company has also been the subject of complaints and arbitration proceedings brought by customers such as Shell and BP over the commissioning process at Calcasieu Pass.

The commissioning has lasted for more than two years, and thus deprived customers of contracted cargoes available once commissioning comes to an end and the commercial start-up begins.

FERC finally intervened in the long-running dispute between Venture Global LNG and its Calcasieu Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana and major customers over delays in activating sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) for contract cargoes.

The regulator asked Venture Global to explain why it has extensively filed “confidential” documents in relation to the Calcasieu Pass export project.

The US Department of Energy issued its March 2024 liquefied natural gas and pipelines export and import data with Turkey as the leading destination for LNG shipments while the leadership in highest prices remained with the Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana.

Feb 5 (LNGJ) - Europe’s largest liquefied natural gas import terminal, the UK’s Isle of Grain facility on the Medway River near London, has followed up its capacity agreement with the Algerian energy company Sonatrach by signing a second deal with US company Venture Global with its Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana and three other facilities being developed. “The Grain LNG terminal is an important gateway to the broader European market, and we look forward to supplying the region through this new access point for years to come,” said Michael Sabel, Chief Executive of Venture Global.

   Grain LNG, owned by a subsidiary of National Grid Plc, said a 16-year agreement was signed with Venture Global for around 3 million tonnes per annum of capacity from 2029 as a result of Grain LNG’s competitive auction process which was launched in September 2023. “I’m delighted that we are able to announce the second result from our September auction, commencing a long-term partnership with Venture Global,” said Katie Jackson President of National Grid Ventures, the UK grid operator’s subsidiary that owns the LNG terminal.

The US finished 2023 at the top of the liquefied natural gas exports league as shipments to Europe were ramped up to replace Russian volumes while Australia finished second because of maintenance, strikes and regulatory obstructions for future ventures and Qatar was in third place ahead of its massive expansion plans.

UK major BP filed a complaint with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission against LNG developer Venture Global claiming the Arlington, Virginia-based company was “illegally withholding information” about delays in delivering LNG from its Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana.

European liquefied natural gas prices declined for a fourth week even as some European Union nations began drawing on record storage levels attained without Russian pipeline gas while North Asian spot cargo prices increased and cargo flows were high to China.

Baker Hughes, the US liquefied natural gas equipment-maker and energy services company, posted increased third-quarter revenues and earnings backed by liquefied natural gas and subsea contracts.