LNG

Oct 26 (LNGJ) - The first November LNG cargoes are heading for the UK and the Netherlands. The “Methane Patricia Camila” is scheduled to arrive on November 1 at the UK Dragon import terminal at the Welsh port of Milford Haven, according to shipping data. The vessel, which has 167,415 cubic metres of capacity, lifted the cargo on October 6 from the Pampa Melchorita plant in Peru.

   The “Woodside Rees Withers” with 173,400 cubic metres capacity is due to unload a US shipment on November 1 at the Dutch Gate terminal in Rotterdam. The cargo was lifted on October 19 from the Corpus Christi plant in Texas.

The United States said it exported more liquefied natural gas than any other country in the first half of 2023 with shipments averaging 11.6 billion cubic feet per day during the period, which was 4 percent more than in the same six months of the previous year.

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.

QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil have agreed to independently market LNG produced at their joint venture Golden Pass LNG plant in Sabine Pass in Texas with the start-up set for 2024.

“By leveraging their unique customer insights, QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil will better serve their downstream customers while meeting increased global demand,” the companies said.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission formally approved the transformation of the existing Golden Pass import terminal located on the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas into an export plant back in December 2016.

The Qatar-ExxonMobil project has advanced at a slow pace because of doubts several years ago over market demand issues that have now been resolved and work is well underway to construct three liquefaction Trains with around 16 million tonnes per annum of output.

While the first Train is still scheduled to come on stream in 2024, the second Train is expected to follow six-to-eight months later and Train 3 six-to-eight months after that.

ExxonMobil said it would market 30 percent of Golden Pass LNG volumes.

Mutual growth

“We are continuing to build on our decades-long relationship with QatarEnergy and collaborating on mutual growth opportunities that help deliver the lower-emissions energy our world needs,” said Peter Clarke, head of ExxonMobil’s LNG business.

“Independently marketing these Golden Pass volumes will generate increased value and flexibility across ExxonMobil’s growing global LNG portfolio,” Clarke explained.

ExxonMobil affiliate ExxonMobil LNG Asia Pacific (EMLAP) has been provided the exclusive rights to market 30 percent of Golden Pass LNG volumes.

QatarEnergy Trading will market the remaining 70 percent.

“Previously, ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy used the Ocean LNG joint venture to market Golden Pass volumes to customers,” noted ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy continued their investments in Golden Pass throughout the pandemic-related down cycle, keeping the expansion project on schedule.

“The project will add new LNG capacity, create thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars of economic growth for the region,” said ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil explained that it was planning for lower-emissions LNG to play an increasingly important role in its advantaged portfolio.

“The company plans to nearly double its LNG supply by 2030 as low-cost, capital-efficient projects like the Golden Pass expansion come online,” said the US major.

The US Department of Energy published its latest LNG monthly export data with European nations solidifying their places in the top six while Sempra’s Cameron LNG plant shipped the most expensive cargoes and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass plant ramped up supplies to an array of countries.

Sempra Infrastructure, the owner of LNG assets on the US Gulf Coast and Mexico, has signed a preliminary supply accord with the Polish Oil and Gas Company for 3 million tonnes per annum of shipments from Louisiana and Texas.

A heads of agreement (HOA) was signed for a potential Polish deal with the cargoes delivered on a free-on-board bases from Sempra’s Cameron LNG plant at Hackberry in Louisiana, which is being expanded.

“The agreement underscores our commitment to help provide greater energy security to Poland and our global partners through long-term LNG sales,” said Dan Brouillette, President of Sempra Infrastructure, an affiliate of San Diego, California-based utility Sempra.

“Our relationship with PGNiG is core to this commitment, and we are excited to continue working closely with them to advance more reliable, secure and increasingly clean energy solutions,” added Brouillette.

Iwona Waksmundzka-Olejniczak, President of Polish Oil and Gas, said the accord paved the way for negotiations of detailed terms.

Commercial path

“LNG is already one of the cornerstones of our diversified strategy to enhance Polish energy security, as well as to strengthen the commercial potential of the PGNiG Group,” she added.

Sempra stated that the accord may result in the finalization of definitive 20-year LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) for 2 MTPA from the Cameron LNG Phase 2 project expansion in Louisiana and 1 MTPA from the Port Arthur LNG project under development in Texas.

“The HOA also provides PGNiG the opportunity in 2022 to reallocate volumes from the Cameron LNG Phase 2 project to the Port Arthur LNG project,” explained Sempra.

Sempra's Cameron LNG Phase 2 expansion will be in the form of a single LNG Train with a production capacity of around 6.75 MTPA of LNG.

The plant will also be subject to a debottlenecking process to increase the efficiency and output of the existing three liquefaction Trains.

Sempra has now put the Port Arthur project in Texas back on the fast track route to development.

The proposed Port Arthur LNG plant has all its regulatory permits and will be constructed on a 3,000-acre site in Jefferson County in Texas and with an initial 13.5 MTPA of capacity.

One of the most respected meteorologist groups in the United States has forecast a more active US Gulf Coast hurricane season in 2022 that would lead to the temporary shutting of oil and gas production and LNG export facilities.

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 United States said it expected high levels of US LNG exports to continue in 2022 with a 16 percent increase, though stressed that there were heightened levels of uncertainty resulting from a variety of factors, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The US government reported that the increase in the nation’s liquefied natural gas exports was supported by large prices differences between the benchmark Henry Hub and spot prices in Europe and Asia and forecast a surge in shipments through March 2022.