LNG

QatarEnergy has signed a second partnership and supply agreement with China Petroleum and Chemicals Corp. (Sinopec) for Qatar’s North Field South (NFS) expansion project in the Arabian Gulf after Sinopec had previously taken a stake in the other Qatar expansion, the North Field East (NFE) joint venture.

Royal Vopak of the Netherlands, the world’s leading independent tank storage company and LNG terminals shareholder, said it aimed to take a 50 percent stake in the floating LNG project at the Dutch port of Eemshaven though was pulling out of an LNG terminal venture in Hong Kong.

Vopak said it had agreed to acquire a 50 percent stake in the Eemshaven project from Dutch utility Gasunie.

“This transaction will be subject to a number of conditions, including the approval from the competition authorities. The transaction is targeted to be completed at the latest by 1 October 2023,” Vopak said.

The EemsEnergyTerminal is an LNG import terminal located in the seaport of the province of Groningen.

“Gasunie developed this new floating LNG terminal in the Eemshaven area in response to gas supply insecurities and a desire to reduce the dependency on Russian gas,” Vopak explained.

Vopak has additionally decided to no longer pursue the acquisition of a 49.99 percent stake in a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) owned by Japanese shipping company Mitsui Osk Lines and deployed in Hong Kong.

FSRU plans

“Vopak has been working with MOL for developing and commissioning the Hong Kong FSRU LNG terminal, and Vopak has contributed much to the establishment of a reliable system for the operation and maintenance of the terminal,” Vopak stated.

“Although the commercial start is expected later this year, the delay of the project has resulted in reduced attractiveness and made Vopak decide not to make use of the share right,” it added.

Vopak said it would remain involved in the commissioning of the terminal and would continue to provide support to the operation of the terminal as required.

The Eemshaven LNG facility has been operational since September 2022 and has a regasification capacity of 8 billion cubic metres per year. 

It comprises two FSRUs, the “Energos Igloo” and an FSRU barge built in China for Belgian shipping company Exmar.

Vopak said that the partners would explore ways of increasing capacity further.

Vopak and Gasunie are also partners in the main Dutch LNG import terminal, the onshore Gate facility at the port of Rotterdam.

Dutch security

“This agreement highlights the commitment of Gasunie and Vopak to jointly develop and operate open access LNG infrastructure in the Netherlands and to contribute to the energy security of Europe,” the statement added.

Ulco Vermeulen, director of business development at Gasunie, said he was pleased with Vopak’s decision to become a co-shareholder in EemsEnergyTerminal.

“By pooling our knowledge and experience we will offer a unique and reliable LNG import solution,” Vermeulen added.

Walter Moone, president New Energies and LNG at Vopak, said he was keen to build on the existing successful partnership with Gasunie.

“This fits very well with Vopak’s strategy to grow in LNG infrastructure and accelerate towards new energies,” Moone explained.

“We are proud to develop and operate reliable and open access infrastructure as this plays an important role both in the security of energy as well as in the energy transition,” added Moone.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, has signed a cargo supply deal with QatarEnergy to receive 4 million tonnes per annum of cargoes from the Ras Laffan plant in the Arabian Gulf from 2026.

European natural gas and LNG markets entered a strongly priced November cycle as liftings from export plants were lower and spot charter prices much higher while North Asian spot LNG prices followed behind Europe’s increased demand as Nord Stream options destroyed.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. has received the first liquefied natural gas cargo, delivered from Qatar, to the giant Yancheng-Binhai Port import terminal with 10 storage tanks in eastern Jiangsu Province.

Imports of liquefied natural gas by China dropped by over 28 percent in June 2022 compared with the same month of 2021 as the economy slowed and spot LNG cargo prices stayed at record high levels on the global market

European Union liquefied natural gas prices remained strong and attracted cargoes amid unprecedent summer demand underpinned by global oil prices, while Asian spot LNG cargo values settled lower as a rebound was awaited in imports by China and India.

Energy Transfer LP, the owner of assets in the Permian Basin and Haynesville Shale as well as the Cushing crude oil delivery system, has signed two LNG sale and purchase agreements with ENN Group for its almost forgotten Lake Charles LNG export project in Louisiana.

Under the two SPAs, Energy Transfer is expected to supply 1.8 million tonnes of LNG to ENN's natural gas subsidiary and 900,000 tonnes of LNG to the ENN Energy unit per annum on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

Energy Transfer said the purchase price was indexed to the Henry Hub benchmark plus a fixed liquefaction charge.

Both SPAs are for a term of 20 years and first deliveries are expected to commence as early as 2026.

China’s ENN has an annual LNG distribution capacity of over 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas and runs the first large-scale private LNG terminal in China, the Zhoushan LNG facility in eastern Zheijang province south of Shanghai.

The SPAs will become fully effective upon the satisfaction of the conditions precedent by Energy Transfer’s plan and final investment decision to transform the existing Lake Charles LNG import terminal into an export plant.

Almost forgotten

The Lake Charles LNG import terminal once had BG Group of the UK as a main customer. Shell then become a terminal partner before later withdrawing from the export plant joint venture.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued permits for the Lake Charles transformation and to produce 16.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

Energy Transfer had acquired the Lake Charles terminal in mid-2011 with the takeover of Southern Union Co. for $7.9 billion.

“The signing of these long-term SPAs will further enrich ENN’s LNG resources, expand resource supply channels, and improve ENN’s natural gas supply capacity to meet the rapidly growing natural gas demand in the domestic market,” said Zheng Hongtao, President of ENN’s natural gas unit and Vice Chairman of the Board.

Tom Mason, President of Energy Transfer LNG, said the Dallas, Texas-based company was pleased to have ENN Energy onboard.

“The execution of these two SPAs represents a significant event in moving the Lake Charles LNG project towards FID,” he explained.

“We are experiencing strong demand for long-term offtake contracts for Lake Charles LNG and we are optimistic that we will be in a position to take a positive FID by year-end,” stated Mason.

“The Lake Charles LNG project is expected to be financed primarily through infrastructure funds and strategic partners, with Lake Charles LNG retaining an equity stake and operatorship of the liquefaction facility,” he added.

Lake Charles LNG will be constructed with the existing brownfield site of regasification facility and will capitalize on four existing LNG storage tanks, two deep water berths and other LNG infrastructure.

“Lake Charles LNG will also benefit from its direct connection to Energy Transfer’s existing Trunkline pipeline system that in turn provides connections to multiple intrastate and interstate pipelines,” said Energy Transfer.

“These pipelines allow access to multiple natural gas producing basins, including the Haynesville, the Permian and the Marcellus Shale,” the company declared.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) has received its first cargo of liquefied natural gas from Qatar under a 10-year supply deal signed with QatarEnergy.

The LNG carrier “Al Sahla” has discharged the shipment at the Tianjin North import terminal, the one that supplies the Chinese capital Beijing with natural gas.

The Qatari Q-Flex vessel with 211,840 cubic metres of capacity was now headed for Singapore, according to shipping data.

This is part of a deal signed with QatarEnergy signed in March 2021 for an annual supply of 2 million tonnes per annum over the next decade.

The SPA was signed by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, as well as President and Chief Executive of Qatar Petroleum, and Zhang Yuzhuo, the Chairman of the Sinopec Group, during a virtual ceremony because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Qataris said that the SPA with Sinopec demonstrated the Arab Gulf nation’s continued commitment to meeting the growing energy demand of its customers globally.

Al-Kaabi said at the time that the Sinopec supply deal would further solidify the excellent bilateral relations between China and the State of Qatar.

He stated that Qatar was “proud of the fact” that this deal would be Sinopec's first long-term LNG SPA with Qatar.

However, Qatar’s LNG relationship with China dates back to 2009 when it received its first cargo.

That Qatari shipment from the liquefaction plant at Ras Laffan was delivered to China National Offshore Oil Corp. in September 2009.

Qatar has delivered more than 750 LNG cargoes to China, of which 290 cargoes have been delivered to CNOOC.

After the CNOOC supply deal the Qataris, along with Ras Laffan project partner Shell, agreed in 2011 to sell 3 MTPA to PetroChina for 25 years.

Chinese liquefied natural gas imports rose year-on-year by 4.2 percent last month and over 18 percent in the year-to-date period, keeping the nation on track to be the world’s No. 1 LNG importer for 2021.