Chesapeake says Southwestern merger to create biggest US gas company on track amid LNG deals and profit falls
Chesapeake Energy Corp., the US natural gas producer completing a merger with smaller peer Southwestern Energy to create American’s biggest natural gas company, reported declines in fourth-quarter and annual net income as it also advanced with various LNG deals.
Gunvor US deal
Nov 28 (LNGJ) - Delfin Midstream, the US LNG project developer, and global commodities firm Gunvor Group, have signed a long-term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement. Delfin said that under the 15-year SPA, Delfin would supply between 500,000 tonnes and 1 million tonnes of LNG per annum to Gunvor on a free-on-board basis at the Delfin Deepwater Port to be located 40 nautical miles off the coast of Louisiana.
“We continue to support US LNG projects and unlock new sources to meet the growing global LNG demand while further expanding our supply portfolio,” said Kalpesh Patel, Co-Head of LNG Trading at Gunvor. Dudley Poston, Chief Executive of Delfin, said he was pleased to enter into a long-term LNG deal. “This latest sale and purchase agreement further demonstrates our attractiveness as a long-term source of scalable, reliable and clean LNG,” Poston stated.
US shale producer EQT posts loss as output and prices fall while accord signed for Lake Charles LNG tolling
EQT Corp., the leading US natural gas producer in the Appalachia Shale Basin, reported second-quarter losses due to falls in output and prices, though advanced its direct liquefied natural gas prospects by signing a heads of agreement for tolling at the Lake Charles LNG export project in Louisiana for 1 million tonnes per annum.
Commodities firm Gunvor charters four LNG carriers ordered from China by Denmark’s Celsius Group
Gunvor Group, the Swiss-based global commodities firm and liquefied natural gas trader, has expanded its shipping fleet by chartering four modern LNG carriers being constructed in China for Celsius Tankers.
Leading commodities firms and LNG traders tell conference that record year unlikely to be repeated soon
The world’s largest energy traders and liquefied natural gas portfolio holders, Trafigura, Vitol and Gunvor said their record year for revenues and profits in 2022 was unlikely to be repeated in the near future.
US LNG developer Tellurian pitches for buyers and investors in India after previous expired or cancelled deals
Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood LNG export plant in Louisiana, was present at the India Energy Week conference and exhibition in Bangalore seeking replacement buyers after it cancelled two sales and purchase agreements in 2022 with UK major Shell and global commodities firm Vitol as it formulated a new financing strategy.
Vopak Antwerp move
Feb 7 (LNGJ) - Royal Vopak, the energy and LNG storage and terminals company, has acquired the shares of Gunvor Petroleum Antwerp from commodities trading group Gunvor, giving it access to the Gunvor concession in the Belgian port of Antwerp to develop an energy hub. “Vopak is committed to sustainably redeveloping the site. together with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges,” said Vopak.
The site is some 105 hectares in size and offers deep-sea, river, road and rail access, as well as pipeline connections to Northwest Europe. “Vopak will reconfigure the concession with the primary aim of making a positive contribution to the decarbonisation of the industrial cluster on the Antwerp port platform,” added the Dutch company. “The Port of Antwerp-Bruges and Vopak will continue their discussions to structure their common strategic ambition, which is to jointly develop a new green energy hub,” said Vopak.
LNG shipping company GasLog benefits from vibrant spot market and signs various time charter deals
GasLog, the LNG shipping company with a fleet of 34 carriers in the Group, benefited from the vibrant spot charter market during the third quarter to increase revenues and profits and signed new time charter agreements.
Energy trader Axpo increases syndicated bank credit lines to a total of €5.3Bln to travers market concerns
Switzerland's Axpo, the largest producer of renewable energy and an international leader in energy trading and marketing, has closed an additional syndicated, committed and unsecured credit facility of €2.3 billion with an international banking consortium, increasing its syndicated credit lines with banks to a total of €5.3 billion.
Tellurian shares plunge as it cancels Shell and Vitol LNG sales deals as well as bond sales and seeks partner
Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood LNG export plant in Louisiana, saw its shares plunge 40 percent on the week as it cancelled two sales and purchase agreements with UK major Shell and global commodities firm Vitol and said it had formulated a new financing strategy.
Shares in Tellurian tumbled by 15.60 percent in one day to $2.33 per share from $2.77 per share on the New York Stock Exchange American list after the statement saying it was seeking a strategic partner to pursue the venture.
The shares were down about 40 percent on the week through September 23 after negative reports emerged on the stock and the progress of the company to a final investment decision.
“The potential corporate and strategic partners we are seeking may want liquefied natural gas volumes that they can sell globally and now we have some capacity to offer that option,” said President and Chief Executive Octávio Simões.
Construction
“We have made good progress on our construction plan and will continue funding that with our cash and operating cash flow,” added the CEO. Tellurian's recent income has come from Haynesville shale gas sales and previously from some LNG trading
Houston. Texas-based Tellurian had initially said it would raise $1 billion by selling bonds to help finance Driftwood LNG for which some site clearing and preliminary work had already started at the site near Lake Charles and ahead of an FID.
Tellurian Executive Chairman Charif Souki said the focus was now on finding a strategic investor for the $12 billion project which had signed three SPAs in mid-2021 with Shell Vitol and with another global commodities firm Gunvor, whose SPA remains in place.
The strategy change followed previous unsuccessful talks with possible equity shareholders in return for them buying debt.
Tellurian’s SPAs with Shell and Vitol were for 3 million tonnes per annum of LNG each for 10 years from the first liquefaction Trains from the venture scheduled to come on stream in 2026 and with regulatory approvals for 27.6 MTPA of output.
Setback
“It sets us back, definitely. It puts in jeopardy the ability to deliver gas on the schedule that we were hoping to stick to,” explained Chairman Souki.
CEO Simões explained that what has not changed for Tellurian was that it was already operating as a natural gas producer with revenues from gas sales.
“Last quarter we produced 9 billion cubic feet of natural gas and had over $61 million in sales, and since then we have closed the EnSight acquisition,” noted Simões.
“Currently we have 11 natural gas wells in various stages of completion and therefore expect a significant increase in production and sales next quarter,” he said.
“In addition, we will add to our value when our fully permitted Driftwood LNG project is completed, and we can reach the global markets with LNG sales at global prices,” he stated.
