LNG

Air Products, the leading global supplier of LNG equipment and a global player in industrial gases and large-scale green fuel and power projects, reported an increase in fiscal first-quarter net income even as revenues slipped.

Air Products said that fiscal first-quarter net income amounted to $621.6 million to the end of December, up from $583.8M in the same three months last year.

The company remains the leading supplier of LNG equipment for the majority of plants operating worldwide.

Basic earnings per share for the Allentown, Pennsylvania-based company amounted to $2.74 per share compared with $2.58 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Sales slip

Air Products posted sales that were about 6 percent lower in the quarter at $2.99 billion, down from $3.17Bln in the same period of 2022.

During the past year the company has taken major LNG technology orders including for the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu, Malaysia, for the QatarEnergy’s North Field South project in Ras Laffan and for NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG Phase I project in the Port of Brownsville in Texas.

The company said that the favourable currency changes were more than offset by 11 percent lower energy cost pass throughs, which negatively affected sales but had no impact on net income.

“Despite significant geopolitical and economic headwinds, the team at Air Products performed well, increasing our adjusted EPS by seven percent over last year,” said Air Products' Chairman, President and Chief Executive Seifi Ghasemi.

“Our reported results were lower than our expectations, mainly due to a slowdown in manufacturing in Asia, particularly in China; lower helium demand; cost headwinds from a sale of equipment for projects; and currency devaluation in Argentina,” Ghasemi explained.

Ambitious strategy

“We are moving forward to successfully implement our ambitious, long-term growth strategy through our core industrial gases business and as a leader in low-carbon intensity hydrogen to generate a cleaner future for the world,” the Chairman stated.

The company also has among its key projects the $12Bln gasification and power joint venture with Saudi Aramco, ACWA Power and the US firm’s Saudi unit, Air Products Qudra, in the Jazan Economic City in Saudi Arabia.

Air Products is also awaiting more progress on the TotalEnergies-led Mozambique onshore LNG export project in Cabo Delgado province where it is expected to be an equipment supplier.

July 25 (LNGJ) - The Port of Brownsville in Texas, the only deep-water seaport directly on the US-Mexico border, said the Brazos Island Harbor (BIH) Channel Improvement Project would soon enter the construction phase to ease access for large ships. This will include the vessels berthing at the Rio Grande LNG export joint venture being developed by Houston-based NextDecade Corp. and partners.

   The Port said the improvement project’s contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. had received a Notice to Proceed to perform the work on the Brownsville Ship Channel. “Great Lakes is set to commence Phase 1 of the project later this year,” said the Port. “The historic BIH project will deepen the 17-mile-long Brownsville Ship Channel from 42 to 52 feet, resulting in significant navigational safety improvements for commercial shipping in South Texas,” it added.

The Brownsville Navigation District and the US Army Corps of Engineers have signed a joint agreement for Phase 2 of the Brazos Island Harbor (BIH) channel improvement project, allowing Brownsville to become one of the deepest ports in the Gulf of Mexico before it welcomes LNG carriers.

Annova LNG, the medium-scale US project planned for the south bank of the Brownsville Ship Channel in Texas, will not now be proceeding following a decision by investors to cancel the venture, while the Chief Executive has already left the project to join Canadian pipeline company TC Energy.

The US export project, Texas LNG Brownsville, was authorized by the  Department of Energy to export US-sourced natural gas to any country with which the US has not entered into a Free Trade Agreement.

Three LNG export plants planned for the Texas Port of Brownsville and comprising multiple liquefaction Trains and around 37 million tonnes per annum of output are facing indirect legal challenges aimed at the leases awarded by the Brownsville Navigation District for the plant sites.

The Port of Brownsville in Texas said it was looking forward to hosting the Rio Grande LNG export plant, to be located in the Port area, and outlined its progress and benefits.

The US Rio Grande LNG project development company in Texas run by former Royal Dutch Shell senior executive Kathleen Eisbrenner called NextDecade is expected to be listed on the US-based Nasdaq global stock exchange before the end of July.