LNG

Chiyoda Corp, the Japanese LNG engineering company working on the Golden Pass project in Texas that has been hit by the bankruptcy of the US Zachry construction group, is seeking an immediate return to building work along with the owners to get Train 1 back on track.

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.

NextDecade Corp., the developer of the Rio Grande LNG export project in Texas, has formally taken a final investment decision to build the first three liquefaction Trains and export facilities with anticipated full capacity of around 27 million tonnes per annum with funding from the US, the Middle East and Asia.

NextDecade Corp., the developer of the Rio Grande LNG export project in Texas, has teamed up with a New York investment fund and TotalEnergies to enable a final investment decision for the first three liquefaction Trains and with the French major buying 5.4 million tonnes per annum of cargoes and taking a large stake in NextDecade.

Sempra, the US utility whose LNG unit Sempra Infrastructure owns Cameron LNG in Louisiana and other projects in Mexico, has taken a positive final investment decision to build the Port Arthur liquefaction and export plant in Texas.

US LNG company Sempra Infrastructure, the owner of the Cameron export plant in Louisiana and developer of the Port Arthur project in Texas and other ventures in Mexico, has signed a cooperation accord with US pipelines group Williams Companies.

Cheniere Energy, the largest US LNG export and owner and operator of the Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana and the Corpus Christi facility in Texas, posted first-quarter revenues of $7.48Bln compared with $3.09Bln in the prior-year quarter, though still posted a substantial net loss citing accounting reasons.

The US Department of Energy has issued two long-term orders authorizing more liquefied natural gas shipments from the existing liquefaction and export facilities owned by Cheniere Energy at Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Corpus Christi in Texas.

The two DoE orders allow Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi more feed gas to liquefy and export. Sabine Pass started operations in February 2016.

The Cheniere plants can now have the additional flexibility to export the equivalent of 0.72 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas as LNG to any country with which the US does not have a free trade agreement, including all of Europe.

When US LNG export plants were being developed for the first time in the lower 48 states the DoE was tasked with making sure there were export limits that protected US domestic natural gas needs as well.

“While US exporters are already exporting at or near their maximum capacity, with the issuances, every operating US LNG export project has approval from DoE to export its full capacity to any country where not prohibited by US law or policy,” said the DoE.

Top exporter

The statement noted that the US was now the top global exporter of LNG and exports are set to grow an additional 20 percent beyond current levels by the end of 2022 as additional capacity comes on stream.

In January 2022, the US supplied more than half of the LNG import needs of Europe.

“With the expected rise in LNG exports, the DoE is particularly focused on driving down methane emissions in the oil and gas sector both domestically and abroad,” added the statement.

It declared that US LNG remained an important component in global energy security.

“The DoE remains committed to finding ways to help our allies and trading partners with the energy supplies they need,” said the statement.

Cheniere announced in early February 2022 the completion of Train 6 at Sabine Pass in Cameron Parish in Louisiana, formally taking nameplate capacity to 27 million tonnes per annum.

The Corpus Christy facility has nameplate capacity of 13.5 MTPA from three Trains.

Cheniere recently initiated a lump sum, turnkey, engineering, procurement and construction contract with US LNG and energy engineering firm Bechtel Inc. for the Corpus Christi LNG plant expansion.

Bechtel has started early engineering, procurement and other site work for the Corpus Christi expansion, known by Cheniere as the Stage III Project.

The expansion will add up to seven mid-scale Trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of around 1.49 MTPA with a total production capacity of more than 10 MTPA.

Cheniere Energy said it had initiated a planned lump sum, turnkey, engineering, procurement and construction contract with US LNG and energy engineering firm Bechtel Inc. for the Corpus Christi LNG plant expansion.

Cheniere Energy has announced the “substantial completion” of Train 6 at the Sabine Pass liquefaction plant in Cameron Parish in Louisiana and formally taking nameplate capacity to 27 million tonnes per annum.

“Commissioning is complete and Cheniere’s engineering, procurement and construction partner, Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals has turned over care, custody and control of Train 6 to Cheniere Energy Partners LP,” said a statement from the Houston, Texas-based company.

“With the achievement of substantial completion, financial results of LNG sales from Train 6 going forward will be reflected in the statement of operations of Cheniere Partners and its applicable affiliates,” added the company.

The work on Cheniere’s Sabine Pass Train 6 started in June 2019 and the peak workforce on the project reached 1,800 workers who installed 12,250 tons of steel, poured 48,500 yards of concrete and laid 2,500,000 feet of cable.

“The accelerated completion of Train 6 once again reflects the world-class standard of execution consistently achieved by the Cheniere and Bechtel teams, and we are proud to have the six-Train vision of Sabine Pass completed safely, ahead of schedule and on budget,” said Jack Fusco, Chairman, President and Chief Executive of Cheniere Partners.

Nine Trains

“With nine total Trains across both the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi projects, the Cheniere liquefaction platform is the second largest in the world, reliably providing our global customer base with clean, secure and affordable energy,” explained Fusco.

“We look forward to opportunities to build upon our platform with disciplined, brownfield growth at both sites in the future,” stated the CEO.

Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and CEO of Bechtel, said Cheniere plays a vital role in delivering reliable and safe energy to communities around the world.

“For us to be involved in supporting the development of these extraordinary projects is a great source of pride and we’re honored to help bring Cheniere’s vision to reality,” declared the Bechtel Chairman.

Cheniere Partners also owns the Creole Trail Pipeline, which interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with a number of large interstate pipelines.

Cheniere can now turn its focus to the Texas Corpus Christi plant expansion, known as Stage 3 and comprising the construction of seven mid-scale liquefaction Trains adjacent to the existing facility.

The mid-scale Trains will add nameplate capacity of almost 10 MTPA to the 13.5 MTPA from the three larger existing Corpus Christi Trains, each producing 4.5 MTPA.

Cheniere is aiming to reach a final investment decision on the Texas plant expansion project in 2022.