LNG

New Fortress Energy Inc., the New York-based LNG-for-power project company with LNG production plans offshore the United States and Africa, said that the US Coast Guard in coordination with the Maritime Administration had affirmed the completeness of NFE’s deepwater port license application.

NFE said that both US security and regulatory bodies would proceed with the preparation of an environmental impact statement as part of the environmental review within the 356-day application process.

NFE’s application proposes the ownership, construction, operation of an offshore natural gas export deepwater port, known as New Fortress Energy Louisiana FLNG.

The project will be located in Federal waters about 16 nautical miles off the southeast coast of Grand Isle, Louisiana in a water depth of 30 metres.

NFE said that the deepwater port would allow for the export of about 145 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year, equivalent to 2.8 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

“This is a significant step forward for our effort to build the first ‘Fast LNG’ facility in the United States,” said Wes Edens, Chairman and Chief Executive of NFE.

The NFE “Fast LNG” design pairs modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs or similar floating infrastructure.

While analysts note that NFE equipment would enable a much lower cost and faster deployment schedule than floating liquefaction vessels, the industry has still to be persuaded that the NFE technology will pass safety and operational tests.

Equipment

Under the NFE plan, a permanently moored floating storage unit (FSU) would serve as an LNG storage facility alongside the floating liquefaction infrastructure, which can be deployed anywhere where there is abundant and stranded natural gas.

“With rapid deployment, this project can help address the energy crisis in Europe and support our efforts to reduce energy poverty by providing more affordable, reliable and cleaner fuel to our growing portfolio of customers,” explained CEO Edens

Subject to the receipt of all required permits and approvals, NFE targets beginning operations offshore Louisiana in the first quarter of 2023.

NFE and Italian energy company Eni are also advancing a “Fast LNG” project in the Republic of Congo in West Africa.

The first African floating LNG joint venture would have capacity of over 3 million tonnes per annum once fully operational.

NFE is additionally continuing to advance LNG-for-power projects in nations like Mexico, Nicaragua and Brazil as well as in the Caribbean and in Sri Lanka in Asia.

Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. is rejecting continued attempts by activist investor Carl Icahn to buy up outstanding stock for $75 per share, calling the move opportunistic and not in the best interest of shareholders.

Cheniere Energy, the largest US liquefied natural gas exporter with plants in Louisiana and Texas, has signed a binding LNG sale and purchase agreement with China’s Sinochem Group, the state-owned producer of fertiliser products and agrochemicals.

Cheniere Energy has entered into a binding liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement with a subsidiary of global commodities firm Glencore Plc.

Under the SPA, Glencore has agreed to purchase about 800,000 tonnes per annum of LNG from Cheniere Marketing on a free-on-board basis for a term of around 13 years beginning in April 2023.

The purchase price for the cargoes under the accord is indexed to the Henry Hub price with a fixed liquefaction fee.

“We are pleased to announce this long-term SPA with Glencore, one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of commodities and a significant player in the global LNG market,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s President and Chief Executive.

“This agreement once again reinforces Cheniere’s position as a leading global LNG provider, and we look forward to a successful long-term relationship with Glencore,” added Fusco.

Fusco states that he saw the latest deal as further building commercial momentum in contracting capacity ahead of a final investment decision being taken on the expansion of the company's plant at Corpus Christi in Texas.

Mid-scale Trains

The Corpus Christi facility is being developed to include up to seven mid-scale liquefaction Trains with a total expected nominal production capacity of around 10 MTPA and has received all necessary regulatory approvals.

The Cheniere LNG supply deal is the first for London-listed Glencore since it signed a Heads of Agreement in June 2021 for 500,000 tonnes per annum of Arctic LNG from Russian company Novatek.

Glencore’s Novatek volumes would be delivered to a number of locations in East Asia.

Novatek is operator of the existing Yamal LNG export plant and is constructing the Arctic LNG II joint venture on the Gydan Peninsula at a cost $21 billion.

The new Russian plant will produce 19.8 MTPA of LNG as well as gas concentrate from the principal feed-gas resources, adding to Yamal’s output of 17.5 MTPA.

Cheniere Energy, the largest US liquefied natural gas exporter with two liquefaction plants in Louisiana and Texas, posted a 14 percent rise in first-quarter revenues to more than $3 billion as it shipped 133 cargoes.

Liftings of liquefied natural gas cargoes were buoyant during December with 438 shipments departing so far from liquefaction plants worldwide as North Sea Brent crude stayed firm, raising long-term LNG values, while North Asia spot prices were at just over $11.00 per million British thermal units for February deliveries.

Cheniere Energy, owner of the Sabine Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana and the Corpus Christi facility in Texas, reported a third-quarter net loss of $463 million and 33 percent lower revenues of $1.46 billion while shipping half as many cargoes as in the prior-year quarter.

One of the three liquefaction Trains at the US Freeport LNG export plant at Quintana Island in Texas remained shut down on October 27 after a recent fire incident presumed to have been caused when a compressor tripped at the facility.

The US exported 10 liquefied natural gas shipments in the past week, one less than the previous week, as mixed US natural gas prices were offset by increasing LNG values in Europe and Asia on demand expectations even as the market remained over-supplied.

Mexican state oil and gas company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) narrowed losses to the equivalent of $2 billion in the second quarter as US pipeline natural gas and LNG imports helped keep power sources at peak capacity. The losses were an improvement on the huge 562 billion pesos ($25Bln) loss registered in the previous quarter for foreign exchange reasons and the collapse of oil prices.