LNG

March 9 (LNG) - French energy major Total has named a new head of its LNG division. Total said Stéphane Michel is the new President of Gas, Renewables & Power (GRP), a position previously held by Philippe Sauquet, who is retiring. Since January 2014, Michel had been Senior Vice President of the Middle East and North Africa Exploration and Production division. He now also joins the Total Executive Committee.

   “The Gas, Renewables & Power segment has a key role to play in the growth, value creation and transformation of Total into a broad energy company,” stated Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive of Total. “We are very pleased to welcome Stéphane Michel to the Executive Committee,” added Pouyanné. “I would also like to thank very warmly Philippe Sauquet for his 30 years at Total, and the major role he has played since 2016 in the creation and sustained development of Total’s Gas, Renewables & Power segment,” stated the Total CEO.

French energy major Total has signed an agreement with Toshiba Corp. to take over the troubled Japanese group’s interests in the Freeport liquefied natural gas export project at Quintana Island in Texas for a sum of $800 million.

Total has signed an agreement with Toshiba to take over its 20-year tolling agreement for 2.2 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Freeport LNG’s Train 3 and the corresponding gas transportation agreements on the pipelines feeding the plant.

The Freeport facility’s Train 3 is expected to come on stream by the second quarter of 2020.

Under the transaction, Total will acquire all the shares of Toshiba America LNG for a consideration of $15M to be paid by Total to Toshiba and will be assigned all contracts related to their LNG business for a consideration of $815M to be paid by Toshiba to Total.

The agreement means that Total will receive from Toshiba a net cash consideration of $800M payable at the closing date of the transaction, expected by the end of 2019.

Toshiba’s energy business began to decline in 2017 when it decided to withdraw from the nuclear business outside Japan after huge losses forced its Westinghouse Electric unit to file for bankruptcy.

The Japanese group entered the LNG market in 2013 by signing its agreement with Freeport. Its tolling and pipeline deals meant financial commitments in the future it wanted to avoid as it restructured, hence its willingness to pay a third party to take over its agreements.

Toshiba had previously discussed a deal with ENN Group for China, an expanding player in the LNG business, before opting for Total.

“The takeover of Toshiba’s LNG portfolio is in line with Total’s strategy to become a major LNG portfolio player,” said Philippe Sauquet, President of Gas, Renewables and Power at Total.

“Adding 2.2 MTPA of LNG to our existing positions in the US, in particular Cameron LNG, will enable optimizations of the supply and operations of these LNG sources,” added Sauquet.

“Already an integrated player in the US gas market, Total is set to become one of the leading US LNG exporters by 2020 with a 7 MTPA portfolio,” he stated.

The Freeport transaction gives the French group a portfolio of around 40 MTPA of LNG through its stakes in leading export ventures in about a dozen countries, including Australia, Nigeria, Russia and Qatar.

French energy major Total said it was accelerating its expansion along the liquefied natural gas and gas value chains with a strategy based on strong growth in the LNG divisions.

Sempra Energy, the California-based utility and developer of the Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana, said it signed accords with Japanese and French LNG buyers for volume sales from its Costa Azul facility on the Pacific Coast of Mexico that is being transformed from an import terminal to liquefaction and an export plant.

Oct 22 (LNGJ) - French energy major Total and China National Offshore Oil Corp. have signed an amendment to their existing sale and purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas supply. They have increased the contract volume from 1 million tonnes per annum to 1.5 MTPA of LNG, sourced from Total’s global portfolio and have extended the term of the contract to 20 years. The first long-term contract was signed in 2008, with an annual volume of 1 MTPA for a period of 15 years. “We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with CNOOC to expand our presence in the Chinese LNG market, which grew by 50 percent over the first half of 2018, and will continue to drive the increase of LNG demand over the next decade,” said Philippe Sauquet, Total’s President of Gas, Renewables and Power.