LNG

New Fortress Energy Inc., the New York-based supplier of LNG for power to Latin America and Asia, has signed an accord with a subsidiary of Italy’s Eni in the Republic of Congo for the deployment of LNG production equipment off the coast of the West African nation for a period of 20 years.

NFE said it would set up its “Fast LNG” facility to produce up to 1.4 million tonnes per annum of LNG in the associated gas fields off the Congo.

The deal in the form of a preliminary Heads of Agreement provides a framework for negotiating a long-term tolling agreement between NFE and Eni.

NFE said that this would be for the full capacity of the facility and for the purchase by NFE of around 1.2 million gallons of LNG per day pursuant to a 20-year free-on-board (FOB) sales and purchase agreement.

The Republic of Congo associated gas from oil production was expected to start in the second quarter of 2023.

'Perfect partner'

“This landmark partnership is a major milestone for our ‘Fast LNG’ business. Eni is a world-class organization and the perfect partner for the first ‘Fast LNG’ unit,” said Wes Edens, Chairman and Chief Executive of NFE.

“With production beginning next year, we believe that this is just the first of many deployments of this game-changing technology around the world,” stated Edens.

“The customers at our downstream terminals need access to affordable, clean and reliable energy. Our portfolio of ‘Fast LNG’ facilities allows us to deploy offshore infrastructure more quickly and affordably, adds low-cost LNG to our existing portfolio and diversifies our business,” Edens explained.

NFE had previously signed a first African deal with the northwest African nation of Mauritania.

That NFE agreement was for the development of an energy hub, including natural gas, power and LNG, utilizing existing offshore gas reserves owned by Mauritania as well as neighbouring Senegal.

The NFE “Fast LNG” design pairs modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs or similar floating infrastructure to enable a much lower cost and faster deployment schedule than floating liquefaction vessels.

Floating storage

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.

NFE said the HOA with Congo is subject to the finalization and execution of definitive agreements and a set of conditions expected to be completed and satisfied by the end of March 2022.

The company is also in advanced discussions for the deployment of this technology in several other markets around the world, including offshore the US.

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.

The company executed a 15-year natural gas supply agreement in Brazil at the end of 2021.

That deal was with a subsidiary of Norsk Hydro ASA for the supply of natural gas to the Alunorte Alumina Refinery in the northern Brazilian state of Pará.

NFE said it was advancing two Brazilian projects, one in Barcarena for Norsk Hydro and a second in Santa Catarina in southern Brazil.

The company said it was also positioned to supply LNG through the Santa Catarina terminal for power plants with more than 400MW of capacity from the second quarter of 2022.

New Fortress Energy, the New York-based firm with LNG-to-power projects in South America and the Caribbean and its first venture pending in the Asian island nation of Sri Lanka, has provided an update on its natural gas supply and earnings goals during the current period of price spikes.

New Fortress Energy, the owner of LNG facilities in Florida and in Jamaica and projects in Puerto Rico and the US northeast, said it signed a long-term LNG supply agreement for eight cargoes a year for 10 years through January 2030.

The New Fortress company is led by Wes Edens, co-founder of the private equity group Fortress Investment.

“This agreement will support the continued growth of New Fortress’ customer base in international markets as the company develops LNG terminals and natural gas infrastructure,” said the company without disclosing who the seller was.

New Fortress made its debut on the Nasdaq global exchange in January 2019 after an initial public offering. 

Its main corporate focus now is introducing LNG to markets that lack access to the fuel.

“This agreement supports our efforts to spur economic growth and reduce emissions as we deliver more affordable and cleaner energy to our customers,” said New Fortress Chairman and CEO Edens. 

“We evaluated a broad range of competitive offers to meet the expansion of our LNG terminals across international markets,” he added.

“We’re pleased to take advantage of the dislocation in global LNG markets and secure 10 years of offtake for our growing business,” stated the CEO.

In addition to its 100,000 gallons per day liquefaction plant in Miami, it operates a floating LNG terminal in Montego Bay, Jamaica, along with a fuel-handling facility and an associated contract in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

The New Fortress Puerto Rico subsidiary, NFEnergía, has entered into a contract with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority for the supply of natural gas and conversion of two out of six units at the San Juan combined-cycle power plant. The initial term of the contract is five years.

The Miami facility began operations in April 2016 and enables the company to produce LNG for export in intermodal ISO containers to the Caribbean and to small-scale customers in southern Florida.

The company is also looking at developing a Pennsylvania LNG distribution facility.

New Fortress Energy, the owner of LNG facilities in Florida and in Jamaica and projects in Puerto Rico and the US northeast, posted a third-quarter rise in revenues while its net losses widened to $54.4 million amid continuing start-up costs and other venture expenses.

New Fortress Energy, the owner of LNG facilities in Florida and in Jamaica, is attempting to advance with developing an LNG export terminal on the Delaware River in New Jersey for cargo containers produced from two small liquefaction plants in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has reopened a public comment period for the project’s permit as environmental protesters increase pressure to block the project.

The small LNG export terminal permit process is being overseen by the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), a regulatory agency involving four states and the US government that oversees the Delaware River watershed on the Atlantic Coast.

New Fortress affiliate Delaware River Partners in 2017 requested a waterway suitability assessment from the US Coast Guard, saying in a letter that it wanted to construct a multi-use, deep-water port and logistics center for a variety of uses, including the handling of automobiles, other bulk freight, and LNG and liquefied petroleum gas.

The company told the Coast Guard that the terminal would have an LNG export capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and an LPG export capacity of 9.6 million barrels per annum.

The company is developing two small-scale liquefaction projects in the Marcellus Shale Basin in Northeast Pennsylvania that would have a combined capacity of 7.3 million gallons per day, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.


The company is led by Wes Edens, co-founder of the private equity group Fortress Investment.

Site work is underway on the first facility in the Marcellus Shale in Bradford County, with construction expected to start in 2020.

A dedicated tanker truck fleet would transport the Marcellus sourced LNG from Bradford County to the Delaware River terminal site for loading and distribution.

Environmental groups claim that the New Fortress subsidiary failed to fully explain its plans for LNG at the proposed facility in Gloucester County, NJ.

The Delaware River project also hopes to use the railroad to bring additional volumes, though this aspect of the venture has yet to be approved by the US Department of Transportation.

New Fortress made its debut on the Nasdaq global exchange in January 2019 after an initial public offering. Its main corporate focus is introducing LNG to markets that lack access to the fuel.

In addition to its 100,000 gallons per day liquefaction plant in Miami, it operates a floating LNG terminal in Montego Bay, Jamaica, along with a fuel-handling facility in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

The Miami facility began operations in April 2016 and enables the company to produce LNG for export in intermodal ISO containers to the Caribbean and to small-scale customers in southern Florida.

In the Marcellus Shale, small-scale LNG facilities are gaining in importance because of the natural gas supply glut. The Marcellus is lacking pipeline transportation so that shale gas production is sometimes shut in rather than being sent into natural gas networks.

Northeast LNG exports are also likely to remain flat at about 700 million cubic feet per day for the foreseeable future as Dominion Energy’s larger single-Train Cove Point export plant in Maryland is fully subscribed.