LNG

Freeport LNG, the US export facility on Quintana Island in Texas, is set for regular operations as port restrictions are lifted after Hurricane Beryl and as power supplies across the state are expected to be 80 percent restored by July 14.

June 28 (LNGJ) - Venture Global LNG, whose existing Calcasieu Pass export plant in Cameron Parish in Louisiana, has still to formally finish its commissioning process that has lasted over two years, has welcomed the go-ahead from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build another plant adjacent to the Calcasieu Pass facility and called CP2.

   “Venture Global applauds the Commission and FERC staff for their independent and thorough review and approval of CP2 LNG,” said Michael Sabel, Chief Executive of Venture Global, after being approved to produce 20 million tonnes per annum of LNG. CP2 has 20-year sales and purchase agreements with companies such as US majors ExxonMobil and Chevron, Japan’s JERA and Inpex Corp., New Fortress Energy of the US and several German utilities.

Repsol, the Spanish oil and gas company and liquefied natural gas market participant, has acquired a 40 percent stake in Genia Bioenergy, Spain’s main developer of natural gas made from waste to boost its presence in the bio-LNG bunkering sector.

Genia Bioenergy is developing 19 plants producing biogas made from agricultural and livestock waste in Spain and Portugal.

The biogas produced will be used both for Repsol's internal consumption and for marketing to customers. Repsol did not disclose any financial details about the transaction with Genia Bioenergy.

Fuels sector

“This agreement is an important step forward in our strategy to take advantage of substrates and organic waste and transform them into fuels for the home, industry and mobility,” said Juan Abascal, Repsol's Executive Managing Director of Industrial Transformation and the Circular Economy.

Repsol added that Genia Bioenergy is the only Spanish company that integrates the entire biogas and biomethane value chain, from the development of technologies to the engineering and construction and the biological and technical operation at the projects.

The Spanish major explained that the emerging biogas industry in Spain and Portugal will contribute to solving the problem that organic waste currently represents for administrations, since it takes advantage of waste that would otherwise generate emissions into the atmosphere as it degrades in landfills.

It also represents an opportunity to generate economic activity in rural areas.

According to Gabriel Butler, Chief Executive of Genia Bioenergy, the biogas plants will help meet the Iberian Peninsula’s European Union obligations on carbon emissions.

“The development of biomethane plants advances Spain's goal of decarbonization of the economy, reduces its energy dependence on foreign countries and provides a sustainable response to European guidelines on waste management,” said Butler.

Rural economy

“It also means the creation of qualified jobs and the boosting of economic ecosystems around waste, especially in rural environments,” he added.

In the LNG sector, Repsol has been building up its LNG bunkering business in recent years and has an agreement with French company Brittany Ferries to supply its vessels arriving at ports in Spain with LNG fuel.

In conventional LNG trading Repsol is also one of the companies with an as yet unfulfilled sale and purchase agreement with Venture Global of the US for the Calcasieu Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana.

Repsol additionally signed a deal in February 2024 to supply UK utility company Centrica with 1 million tonnes of LNG shipments between 2025 and 2027.

Centrica said at the time that all of these cargoes were expected to be delivered to the UK Grain LNG import terminal located on the Medway River in Kent, southeast England.

Venture Global LNG Inc., the US liquefied natural gas developer involved in a dispute with many customers regarding the non-delivery of post-commissioning cargoes from the Calcasieu Pass project in Louisiana, plans to acquire nine LNG carriers to expand its worldwide sales especially of spot shipments.

US energy regulators have 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.

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.

Shell has joined with the other UK-based major BP to file a complaint with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 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.

The US Department of Energy published its latest LNG export data with France, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK and South Korea and Japan being the main destinations while prices for that period began to rise and shipments from Calcasieu Pass were the most expensive.

The United States government forecasts that the global liquefied natural gas markets in the current winter season would likely be balanced through to the end of March 2024 even as geopolitical, weather and other risks remained.

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.