LNG

BlackRock-backed funds, managed by HPS Investment Partners, have committed $500 million to Glenfarne’s Texas LNG project, bringing the Port of Brownsville export terminal closer to a final investment decision (FID).

July 25 (LNGJ) - A Texan bankruptcy court approved a settlement between US engineering firm Zachry Holdings and the Golden Pass LNG project developers, ExxonMobil Corp. and QatarEnergy, to appoint a new lead contractor. Zachry was the lead contractor in the $10 billion project to transform the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas into an export plant but filed on May 8, 2024, for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

   The move effectively blocked the project at the site on the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas. However, the two remaining contractors Chiyoda Corp. of Japan and the CB&I subsidiary of US firm McDermott can now resume their work with Chiyoda in the lead role. The three liquefaction Trains at Golden Pass will have a nameplate capacity of around 16 million tonnes per annum of LNG with ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy owning 30 percent and 70 percent of the project respectively.

July 24 (LNGJ) - Texas LNG Brownsville, the liquefied natural gas export plant to be constructed in the Port of Brownsville in Texas and a subsidiary of Glenfarne Energy Transition, has executed a definitive 20-year tolling agreement for natural gas liquefaction services with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based EQT Corp. The deal solidifies the two Heads of Agreement signed by Texas LNG and EQT earlier in 2024.

   “Glenfarne’s partnership with EQT will bring low-emission natural gas to transitioning and emerging markets, powering the globe’s phase out of legacy, carbon-intensive fuels,” said Brendan Duval, Glenfarne’s Chief Executive and Founder and Co-President of Texas LNG. “Beyond this partnership with EQT, Texas LNG is actively converting its other HOAs into definitive agreements in preparation for a final investment decision,” Duval added.

EQT Corp., the largest shale-gas operator in the US Appalachian Basin and a future LNG market stakeholder, has completed the acquisition of Equitrans Midstream earlier than expected after the Equitrans-operated Mountain Valley Pipeline came online in June 2024.

Texas LNG Brownsville, the US Gulf Coast export project, said it was making solid advances in signing accords for all volumes available as it remains on track for a final investment decision.

A Federal judge in Louisiana has put the US Department of Energy’s pause on liquefied natural gas export permits on hold in a setback for the Biden Administration’s more radical measures to mitigate climate change by curbing gas industry emissions.

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), which recently signed two US LNG accords in Texas, has awarded contracts worth $25 billion to boost its own strategic natural gas production in the Middle East Kingdom.

The US Department of Energy issued its June 2024 liquefied natural gas and pipelines export and import data report with the Netherlands again heading the LNG cargo destination list, Germany paying the most for shipments and the Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana still having the highest prices.

Japanese trading house Mitsui and Company Ltd, has purchased more shale-gas assets in Texas and plans to bring them to full-scale development and production as possible feed-gas supplies for LNG output.

Mountain Valley Pipeline spanning the states of Virginia and West Virginia and whose operator is Equitrans Midstream, a company currently the subject of a merger deal with LNG player EQT Corp., has formally started up to meet soaring demand and as the most politicised and delayed pipeline in North America.