LNG

Cheniere Energy has signed a contract with Bechtel, valued at $4.69 billion, for engineering, ​procurement and construction of the first phase of its Sabine Pass ‌LNG expansion, a project centred on Train 7 with more than 6 mtpa liquefaction capacity.

Cheniere’s move to combine the CEO and chairman roles under Jack Fusco, effective May 14, could accelerate decision-making – though investors remain wary about the concentration of power at the leading US LNG exporter, which has more than 53 mtpa capacity in operation.

As of January 25, the ‘monster winter storm’ Fern has severely impacted feedgas supply for US LNG exports, with restrictions on the Creole Trail pipeline reducing flows to Sabine Pass terminal. Freeport LNG might also go offline as ice is accumulating along its feedgas corridor. 

November gas future contract at Henry Hub soared to $2.932/MMBtu after hurricane Helene made landfall with a windspeed of 140mph in Florida’s Big Bend region. Though LNG infrastructure was not impacted, offshore gas production in the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM) fell by nearly 10 bcf as developers took precautions.

July 4 (LNGJ) - A US LNG cargo was heading for the UK with the National Balancing Point market price at around the equivalent of $9.700 per million British thermal units.

   The “Rioja Knutsen” with 176,300 cubic metres of capacity is scheduled to discharge a US LNG shipment on July 11 at the South Hook terminal at the Welsh port of Milford Haven, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on June 27 from the Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana.

Cheniere Energy, the operator of the Sabine Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana and Corpus Christi LNG in Texas, swung to a third-quarter profit of $1.7 billion compared with losses of $2.38Bln in the prior-year quarter as 152 cargoes were shipped in the three months and 468 cargoes in the first ninth months of the year.

May 15 (LNGJ) - The UK is scheduled to receive two LNG cargoes in the next two days. The “Kool Firn” vessel with 174,000 cubic metres of capacity is due to discharge a US shipment on May 16 at the South Hook terminal in Milford Haven from Sabine Pass in Louisiana.

   A second cargo is expected to arrive in the UK on May 17 at the Isle of Grain terminal on the Medway River in Kent on board the Algerian Med-class vessel “Cheikh Bouamama” with capacity of 74,245 cubic metres. The cargo was lifted on May 11 from Algeria’s Skikda export plant.

Europe will receive a steady stream of LNG cargoes from the US, Qatar and other nations such as Peru in the next two weeks, though there are no LNG shipments scheduled so far through the end of next week for the new importer Germany.

European chemicals company INEOS has signed a 20-year contract with Sempra Infrastructure for the supply of about 1.4 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the US Port Arthur project under development in Texas.

INEOS added that under the agreement it had signed up for 1.4 MTPA from Phase 1 of the project and also signed a non-binding heads of agreement for the potential purchase of an additional 0.2 MTPA from the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project under development.

The first deliveries from the US Gulf Coast plant are expected in 2027.

INEOS noted that it also signed a contract for long-term regasification capacity in a proposed German onshore LNG terminal at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River north of Hamburg.

“These agreements mark INEOS’s entry into the global LNG market. The company is a first mover among European corporates as it secures competitive sources of energy to meet its own needs and those of its customers in Europe,” stated the company.

The agreements come at a critical time for energy markets and will provide much needed security of supply for Europe.

Brian Gilvary, Chairman of INEOS Energy, said the agreements were very important for the company.

Atlantic corridor

“This long-term contract with Sempra and the agreement of regasification capacity in Brunsbüttel secures the key areas of the value chain for INEOS across the Atlantic corridor and represents a major step forward in the INEOS Energy journey at a time of significant transformation in the energy industry,” explained Gilvary.

The Port Arthur LNG project is a fully permitted facility on a 3,000-acre site in Jefferson County, Texas.

It is expected to include two natural gas liquefaction trains and LNG storage tanks and associated facilities capable of producing up to 13.5 MTPA from an initial two liquefaction Trains.

The Brunsbüttel import terminal near the Kiel Canal is being developed by the company, German LNG Terminal GmbH.

It will have initial an annual throughput capacity of 8 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year and may be expanded to at least 10 Bcm.

US export plant Freeport LNG in Texas plans to undertake a facility overhaul of work and safety methods as it prepared to return to full production ramp-up by March 2023 after the shut-down caused by the June 8 fire in 2022.