LNG

Commonwealth LNG, the US developer of an export plant in Cameron Parish in Louisiana and whose future customers include Australian liquefaction plants operator Woodside Energy, said it expected the US Department of Energy to approve a licence to export to Non-Free Trade Agreement countries in the weeks ahead.

Commonwealth LNG, the US developer of an export plant in Cameron Parish in Louisiana, and the Singapore trading unit of Australian liquefaction plants operator Woodside Energy, have signed two binding LNG Sale and Purchase Agreements while Woodside also signed an accord to supply cargoes to Uniper of Germany.

Commonwealth LNG, the export venture proposed for Cameron Parish in the US Gulf Coast state of Louisiana, has overhauled its management and named the former Chief Executive of Sempra’s Cameron LNG project, Farhad Ahrabi, to serve as Commonwealth’s new President and CEO.

Ahrabi joins Commonwealth following a seven-year tenure at Cameron during which he oversaw the development, construction and subsequent operations of a 14.5-million tonnes per annum liquefaction and export facility at Hackberry in Louisiana.

Commonwealth’s plan is for an export plant consisting of six liquefaction Trains, each with a nominal production capacity of 1.4 MTPA and totalling 8.4 MTPA.

The project is also proposing to construct six LNG storage tanks, each with capacity of 50,000 cubic metres and one marine berth capable of accommodating vessels of up to 216,000 cubic metres capacity.

The liquefaction plant requires about 182 acres to construct and would occupy about 107 acres during operations.

The Commonwealth project’s founder and Chairman, Paul Varello, said he was delighted to recruit Ahrabi to head the team.

Leadership

“The depth of Farhad’s leadership experience, both at Cameron and the preceding 28 years with BG Group, will be of immeasurable value to our team as we move through the final stages of development and into construction and operation,” said Varello.

“Projects of this magnitude involve a complex convergence of technical, financial, political and community support elements that require the kind of high-level thinking and pragmatic solutions that Farhad can bring,” Varello added.

Ahrabi said he was particularly attracted to the Commonwealth opportunity because of the company’s engineering-focused approach.

The new CEO said that Commonwealth’s advantage is that it will keep liquefaction costs low and ultra-competitive in the global market at a time when there is a growing demand for US-sourced gas.

“Commonwealth has staked its ground by securing an excellent location, developing a highly modularized approach to provide clean and affordable energy, and offering creative and flexible commercial terms,” said Farhad.

“I’m humbled and excited to have the opportunity to lead the organization in delivering its promise in a way that not only serves the interests of this company, its employees, the local communities and all other stakeholders, but is part of the overall advancement of the next generation US LNG facilities,” he stated.

BG veteran

In addition to his prior roles at Cameron LNG and BG Group of the UK, Ahrabi has also served over the past two years as an Independent Director at ARC Resources Ltd, a leading Canadian energy company with a diverse asset portfolio focused on responsible energy development.

Ahrabi holds a PhD in Reservoir Engineering from the University of Exeter (England) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wales.

Commonwealth said its remaining pre-final investment decision activities were underway for a projected start of construction in 2023.

The project is expected to have an accelerated schedule that will allow building to be completed in three years using a predominantly modular approach for a projected start of commercial operations in 2026.

The Commonwealth LNG project in the US, a liquefaction and exports plant proposed for the west side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Johnson Bayou in Louisiana, has widened its LNG cooperation agreement with global commodities firm Gunvor.

The Commonwealth LNG project in the US, a liquefaction and exports plant proposed for the west side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Johnson Bayou in Louisiana and holding a supply deal with international commodities firm Gunvor, has received its environmental impact report schedule from regulators.

The Commonwealth LNG project in the US, a liquefaction and exports plant proposed for the west side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Johnson Bayou in Louisiana, has signed a preliminary supply deal with Singapore-based commodities trading firm Gunvor.

Commonwealth said it signed a heads of agreement with Gunvor Singapore outlining the principal details of a future firm accord for the supply of 1.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG for a term of 15 years.

The project has a schedule to make a final investment decision in 2020 and to start commercial operations by 2024.

Its plant will have a total liquefaction capacity of 8.4 MTPA and LNG storage capacity volumes of 240,000 cubic metres and has chosen a modular construction format, according to filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

A total of eight liquefaction Trains are planned with each having production capacity of just over 1 MTPA.

There would additionally be six LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 40,000 cubic metres.

An adjacent electric plant would be powered by an 80-megawatt gas turbine and there would be boil-off gas handling systems, utilities, and communications system.

A 3.7-mile natural gas receiving pipeline for feed-gas is also proposed, extending from existing pipelines operated by Kinetica Partners and Bridgeline Holdings.

The marine berth would have the size to accommodate LNG carriers with capacity up to 215,000 cubic metres.

“The agreement with Commonwealth LNG is a significant step in executing Gunvor’s overall strategy of uncovering and securing low-cost resources and seamlessly delivering them to high value markets,” said Kalpesh Patel, Gunvor Co-Head of LNG Trading.

“We look forward to working with the Commonwealth team as they continue to progress their project,” added Patel.

Paul Varello, Commonwealth’s President and Chief Executive, said he was delighted at securing the first step towards a firm supply deal.

“We are proud to be entering into an agreement for a portion of our LNG offtake with the Gunvor Group, one of the world’s premier commodities trading houses,” explained Varello.

“Our mantra is to develop LNG solutions for the next generation and in Gunvor we have found a commercial partner who not only shares that vision, but through its creativity and innovation exemplifies it,” stated the CEO.

TechnipFMC, the energy and LNG engineering company, has agreed an initial services contract for a US LNG export plant proposed for the west side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Johnson Bayou in Louisiana as part of the next wave of facilities planned for the Gulf Coast.

Commonwealth LNG, the US liquefaction and export plant proposed for the west bank of the Calcasieu River in Cameron Parish in Louisiana has named Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as its financial advisor to help raise capital and advance the venture.

“We are pleased to be partnered with this global financial leader as we move forward with our innovative LNG investment,” said Commonwealth LNG President and Chief Executive Paul Varello.

“SMBC’s experience and reputation in capital asset advice and management will help ensure the stability and predictability of our development project in southwest Louisiana,” he added.

The US project developers noted that SMBC was one of only four banks to have played a primary role in each of the LNG liquefaction project financings closed to date in North America.

“SMBC is very happy to be associated with such an innovative project as Commonwealth LNG,” said Nobuyuki Kawabata, CEO of the Americas Division of the Japanese bank.

Commonwealth LNG was accepted into the FERC “pre-filing” process in August 2017 and current plans are for construction to begin as early as 2019, with operations to commence by 2022.

At full capacity, Commonwealth LNG is expected to produce 9 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

The facility would be located along the South Prong of Grand Bayou in Cameron Parish, where several other projects are being built.

Commonwealth said it intended to file a formal application for the project with the FERC no later than August 2018.

Its industry partners for equipment include, compressors and drives maker, Siemens of Germany, and US-based consultants CH-IV, a subsidiary of Australian engineering group Clough Ltd.

The project company said it planned to construct eight single mixed-refrigerant LNG liquefaction Trains, one marine loading berth with three loading arms, six 400,000 cubic metres capacity LNG storage tanks and four miles of pipeline to connect to inter-state feed-gas supplies.

The Commonwealth project has already been worked on for almost three years by the management team and its LNG consultants, advisors and vendors.

Commonwealth LNG, a US export project in Louisiana, has initiated its pre-filing environmental review process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a liquefaction plant in Louisiana with 9 million tonnes per annum of capacity.