LNG

July 13 (LNGJ) – US pipelines and terminals company Energy Transfer LP has entered into three non-binding Heads of Agreement deals including one for Japan and one for commodities firm Gunvor. One accord specifies that a Japanese consortium would buy 1.6 MTPA over 20 years subject to an option to convert the offtake to an equity participation providing for the same LNG volume.

   Under a second HOA Chesapeake Energy Marketing of the US would supply the Lake Charles plant with feed gas sufficient to produce 1.0 MTPA of LNG for a period of 15 years and, post liquefaction, the volumes would be bought by Gunvor’s Singapore trading unit. That deal is for 15 years and linked to the Japan-Korea Marker price. The third HOA is with an unnamed US customer and relates to a tolling arrangement for 1.0 MTPA over 15 years.

Japanese liquefied natural gas imports declined by 0.9 percent in 2018 as coal and nuclear provided more competition for power generation, though the costs of the LNG shipments soared by more than 20 percent and a fall in Asian shipments was partially offset by a rise in Middle East cargoes.