LNG

GAIL (India) Ltd, the shareholder in Petronet LNG and the operator of the Dabhol import terminal in the West Coast state of Maharashtra, signed a long-term supply deal with global commodities firm Vitol.

The Berkshire Hathaway Energy group of US investor Warren Buffett has acquired the 50 percent of the Cove Point LNG plant in Maryland it didn’t already own for $3.3 billion from US utility Dominion Energy.

Dominion had a 50 percent non-controlling limited partner interest in Cove Point LNG and this is now owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which already operates the facility.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy confirmed the acquisition for $3.3Bln and said it would now own a 75 percent limited partnership stake in Cove Point LNG LP.

It added that a subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, the Canadian equity fund, owns the remaining 25 percent limited partnership interest in the Cove Point business.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy holds the Cove Point stake in the BHE Gas Transmission and Storage (BHE GT&S) unit, an interstate natural gas transmission and storage company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia and with operations in 10 states.

Dominion valuation

Dominion said its own total transaction value was in fact $3.5Bln inclusive of transaction proceeds of $3.3Bln and expected proceeds from the termination of related interest rate derivatives of $200 million.

“Since 2002, Cove Point has been an excellent service provider to its international and domestic customers - linking global gas supplies with American customers, and American gas supplies with customers around the world,” said Robert M. Blue, Dominion President and Chief Executive.

“However, this investment is non-core to Dominion Energy as we focus on our state-regulated utility operations,” CEO Blue added.

“The sale demonstrates our commitment to the company's credit profile and represents an attractive exit from what has been an excellent investment for our shareholders,” Blue stated.

Cove Point produces around 5.2 million tonnes per annum from a single Train and has tolling agreements with Gas Authority of India and Sumitomo Corp. and Tokyo Gas of Japan.

Earlier deal

Buffett's company agreed to acquire its initial Cove Point stake in July 2020. That deal between Dominion and Berkshire Hathaway was valued at $9.7Bln and included gas transmission and gas storage assets as well as the Cove Point stake. It also gave the Buffett company operatorship of the LNG export plant.

Buffett's company said at the time it was acquiring the Cove Point plant as it was one of only a limited number of such LNG export facilities in the US.

When agreeing to buy the Cove Point stake in July 2020 Buffett was also concluding his first big acquisition since 2015 and it happened to be in the natural gas and LNG business.

Buffett's BHE GT&S currently operates around 5,500 miles of transmission lines in the eastern US and 756 billion cubic feet of total natural gas storage, with 420 Bcf of working gas capacity. 

BHE GT&S also provides LNG solutions through another of its units called Pivotal LNG and other processing and storage ventures.

July 4 (LNGJ) - At last three LNG cargoes are headed for the Netherlands in the next two week. The “Asia Integrity” carrier with 160,000 cubic metres of capacity is scheduled to deliver a cargo on July 6 from Equatorial Guinea in West Africa to the Eemshaven terminal in Groningen. Shipping data shows that the cargo was lifted on June 15 from the Punta Europa plant on the African nation’s Bioko Island.

   The “Maran Gas Ulysses” with 174,000 cubic metres of capacity is due to deliver a US shipment to Eemshaven on July 10. The cargo was loaded on June 25 at Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana. A second US delivery to the Netherlands will be made on July 18 to the Gate terminal in Rotterdam by the “LNG Sakura” carrier with 177,000 cubic metres of capacity. The cargo was lifted on June 29 from the Cove Point plant in Maryland.

Gas Authority of India (GAIL), the LNG importer and natural gas pipeline grid and city-gas operator, reported a decline in net profits even as total revenues increased for the fiscal third quarter and the year to date.

Occidental Petroleum, the Houston-based company with US oil and gas assets and Warren Buffett as a main shareholder as well as owning Algerian oil and associated natural gas stakes pointing at Europe, reported strong third-quarter results.

Warren Buffett, one of America’s most followed investors, has taken his stake in Occidental Petroleum to more than 19 percent, in a varied portfolio of energy shares and stakes acquired by the man known as the “Oracle of Omaha”.

Dominion Energy, a shareholder in the Cove Point LNG export plant in Maryland supplying Asia and Europe, has closed the sale of Questar Pipelines to Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. in a transaction valued at almost $2 billion, including the assumption of $430M of existing debt.

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.

Liquefied natural gas prices increased in Europe as spot values for North Asia eased slightly while cargo liftings began to decline at Atlantic and Pacific Basin export plants and confusion reigned in oil markets where signals were conflicting.

Dominion Energy, the US utility and former operator of the Cove Point LNG export plant in Maryland, has signed a definitive agreement to sell Questar Pipelines to Southwest Gas Holdings in a transaction valued at $1.97 billion after a previous sale to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy was cancelled.