LNG

Chinese liquefied natural gas imports increased by over 28 percent last month, though the recovery in cargo deliveries may not be enough to recapture the No. 1 global LNG importer position in 2023 that was ceded to Japan in 2022.

Russia expects to supply more LNG and pipeline natural gas to China in 2023 after energy shipments to the Chinese increased after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including deliveries of Russian crude oil.

Chinese liquefied natural gas imports in August 2022 to its network of 22 regasification terminals tumbled by 29 percent because of a mixed economic recovery, high spot prices and more pipeline natural gas imports.

Chinese liquefied natural gas imports in July 2022 to its network of 22 regasification terminals declined significantly on a year-on-year basis amid an economic slowdown while shipments from Russia have edged higher since the Ukraine invasion.

Cheniere Energy, the largest US LNG exporter from its six-Train Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana and its three-Train facility at Corpus Christi in Texas and with expansion plans, has signed another long-term sale and purchase agreement with PetroChina.

PetroChina is the Hong Kong-listed unit of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and has a stake in Shell’s Canada LNG project in British Columbia.

CNPC itself additionally has shareholdings in two Russian Arctic LNG projects and in ExxonMobil’s stalled Mozambique LNG export venture.

Under the SPA with Cheniere, PetroChina subsidiary PetroChina International (PCI) has agreed to purchase up to 1.8 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the Cheniere Marketing unit on a free-on-board basis whereby the Chinese provide their own shipping.

Deliveries under the SPA will begin in 2026 and reach the full 1.8 MTPA in 2028 and they will continue through 2050.

The purchase price for LNG under the SPA is indexed to the Henry Hub price, plus a fixed liquefaction fee.

Expansion volumes

Half of the total volume, or about 900,000 tonnes, is subject to Cheniere making a positive final investment decision to construct additional liquefaction capacity at the Corpus Christi plant beyond the expansion with seven mid-scale Trains already approved and known as the Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project.

“We are pleased to build upon our existing and successful long-term relationship with PetroChina and sign our first LNG contract that crosses over into the second half of this century,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s President and Chief Executive.

“PetroChina is a leading energy company in one of the largest and fastest growing markets for LNG,” added Fusco.

“This SPA increases Cheniere’s long-term sales to PetroChina to approximately 3 MTPA, and we are proud to support China’s progress toward a lower-carbon future with our reliable, cleaner burning LNG,” declared the Cheniere CEO.

The Executive Chairman of PCI, Tian Jinghui, also commented on the LNG agreement with the Houston-based company.

“Natural gas continues to play a vital role in enabling energy transition in China,” said Tian.

“We are pleased to further expand our cooperation with Cheniere in delivering LNG, one of the cleanest fuel choices to our millions of customers for many years to come,” he added. 

NextDecade Corp., the developer of the Rio Grande LNG export project on the Brownsville Ship Channel in Texas, has signed a third supply agreement with a Chinese company since the start of 2022.

Commonwealth LNG, the export venture proposed for Cameron Parish in the US Gulf Coast state of Louisiana, has overhauled its management and named the former Chief Executive of Sempra’s Cameron LNG project, Farhad Ahrabi, to serve as Commonwealth’s new President and CEO.

Ahrabi joins Commonwealth following a seven-year tenure at Cameron during which he oversaw the development, construction and subsequent operations of a 14.5-million tonnes per annum liquefaction and export facility at Hackberry in Louisiana.

Commonwealth’s plan is for an export plant consisting of six liquefaction Trains, each with a nominal production capacity of 1.4 MTPA and totalling 8.4 MTPA.

The project is also proposing to construct six LNG storage tanks, each with capacity of 50,000 cubic metres and one marine berth capable of accommodating vessels of up to 216,000 cubic metres capacity.

The liquefaction plant requires about 182 acres to construct and would occupy about 107 acres during operations.

The Commonwealth project’s founder and Chairman, Paul Varello, said he was delighted to recruit Ahrabi to head the team.

Leadership

“The depth of Farhad’s leadership experience, both at Cameron and the preceding 28 years with BG Group, will be of immeasurable value to our team as we move through the final stages of development and into construction and operation,” said Varello.

“Projects of this magnitude involve a complex convergence of technical, financial, political and community support elements that require the kind of high-level thinking and pragmatic solutions that Farhad can bring,” Varello added.

Ahrabi said he was particularly attracted to the Commonwealth opportunity because of the company’s engineering-focused approach.

The new CEO said that Commonwealth’s advantage is that it will keep liquefaction costs low and ultra-competitive in the global market at a time when there is a growing demand for US-sourced gas.

“Commonwealth has staked its ground by securing an excellent location, developing a highly modularized approach to provide clean and affordable energy, and offering creative and flexible commercial terms,” said Farhad.

“I’m humbled and excited to have the opportunity to lead the organization in delivering its promise in a way that not only serves the interests of this company, its employees, the local communities and all other stakeholders, but is part of the overall advancement of the next generation US LNG facilities,” he stated.

BG veteran

In addition to his prior roles at Cameron LNG and BG Group of the UK, Ahrabi has also served over the past two years as an Independent Director at ARC Resources Ltd, a leading Canadian energy company with a diverse asset portfolio focused on responsible energy development.

Ahrabi holds a PhD in Reservoir Engineering from the University of Exeter (England) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wales.

Commonwealth said its remaining pre-final investment decision activities were underway for a projected start of construction in 2023.

The project is expected to have an accelerated schedule that will allow building to be completed in three years using a predominantly modular approach for a projected start of commercial operations in 2026.

The US Calcasieu Pass liquefied natural gas export plant being developed by Venture Global has begun final commissioning activities prior to producing first LNG as the nation’s seventh large-scale LNG exporter.

Cheniere Energy of the US has signed its second LNG supply agreement with a leading Chinese company in November 2021 with a binding 20-year deal with Foran Energy Group, a leading city-gas provider in the southern Guangdong province.

Nov 4 (LNGJ) - US LNG plant developer Venture Global has confirmed two long-term liquefied natural gas supply deals with China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, and its trading arm Unipec and previously revealed on October 20 by the US Department of Energy.

   Venture Global will supply 4 million tonnes per annum of LNG to Sinopec for 20 years from the Plaquemines LNG plant to be built on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. In addition, Unipec has agreed to purchase up to 3.8 MTPA of LNG from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass facility under construction south of the city of Lake Charles. “Venture Global will soon become the largest US LNG exporter to China,” said Michael Sabel, Chief Executive of Venture Global. “This will accelerate our combined efforts to lower carbon emissions and provide a low-cost, reliable and secure energy supply to China,” added the CEO.