LNG

Vitol, the world’s largest independent energy and commodities firm, said its traded liquefied natural gas volumes increased slightly to 17.6 million tonnes during 2022 and with 67 percent sold to Europe in the fourth quarter.

Vitol, the global commodities company, has signed a 10-year deal with Nigerian LNG to buy 500,000 tonnes per annum as the Swiss-based trader expands its portfolio in the medium-term and spot cargo markets.

Vitol, the global commodities company, has signed a 10-year time charter agreement with South Korean company H-Line Shipping for a newbuild liquefied natural gas carrier as its portfolio expands with the recent joint venture signed for Mozambique LNG trading.

Jera Trading (Jerat), the joint trading venture between Japanese LNG and fuel procurement and utility company Jera Co. Inc. and French firm EDF Trading established in April 2017 following the acquisition of EDFT’s coal business, is continuing its countdown to becoming Jera Global Markets.

Jerat is strengthening its team by hiring a senior trader from global commodities firm Vitol.

Jerat said Alex Baileff would join the company in April as Senior Vice President for Coal.

“We are looking forward to welcoming Alex to Jera Trading. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and trading experience which will be an asset to our coal and freight activities as we develop Jerat’s global footprint,” said Sunao Nakamura, Chairman of the Board of Jera Trading.

Jera and EDF Trading signed an agreement last year to form an LNG optimization and trading joint venture whereby Jera’s and EDFT’s LNG trading activities would be merged into Jerat, which will be renamed Jera Global Markets.

This agreement is expected to be completed in early 2019. Baileff will join Jerat’s senior team comprising Kazunori Kasai, Chief Executive; Robert Quick, Director of Corporate Affairs; Hisaki Endo, Director of Group Coordination; Ronan Lory, Chief Operating Officer; and Sarah Behbehani, senior Vice President of LNG.

Jera Co. Inc is the main company in all the operations. It was set up by Tokyo Electric Power Co and Chubu Electric to combine their LNG and other trading activities and ultimately to run their power businesses as the industry in Japan reformed and was deregulated.

On the trading front, the new Jera Global Markets will have more than 300 people and offices in Japan, Singapore, the UK, the US and the Netherlands, Jerat will become one of the largest utility-owned seaborne energy optimizers, spanning Asia, the Pacific and the Atlantic Basins.

The two firms noted that as the demand for LNG in Japan becoming increasingly variable and difficult to predict and with the ramp-up in US liquefaction and exports, Europe has become a key balancing market for excess global LNG.

Jera and EDFT have said there is significant room for optimizing LNG on a global basis, establishing a more liquid market, and over time developing a clear pricing signal for LNG in Asia.

Jera Co. Inc. holds 66.67 percent of the equity in Jerat through its wholly-owned subsidiary Jera Trading International while the French firm holds 33.33 percent of the Jerat shares.

Tellurian Inc., the US liquefied natural gas development company founded by former Cheniere Chief Executive Charif Souki, has signed a preliminary accord with Swiss-based international commodities firm Vitol to supply 1.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG cargoes for 15 years.

Cheniere Energy, owner of the Sabine Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana, posted an almost 30 percent rise in third-quarter LNG revenues as volumes increased along with prices and more than 215 cargoes were shipped in the year-to-date period.

Cheniere Energy, the leading US LNG exporter, has signed its latest supply agreement with Switzerland-based global commodities company Vitol.

March 26 (LNGJ) – Vitol Group, the Geneva, Switzerland-based global commodities and energy trader, said the liquefied natural gas market was evolving as anticipated and the firm’s trading volumes grew during 2017 to 7.4 million tonnes of LNG. “Vitol continues to perform solidly,” said Chairman Ian Taylor. “Overall volumes held steady at just over 7 million barrels per day and turnover rose to $181 billion on the back of an increase in the average oil price over the course of the year,” added the Chairman. “Challenging market conditions required a constant focus on careful risk and margin management, though strong demand growth was supportive of volumes and the performance of our investment portfolio,” he said.

Noble Group, the troubled Singapore-listed LNG and energy and commodities trader, has opted not to pay the coupon on a $750 million bond as it remained close to a debt restructuring agreement with its biggest creditors.

Global commodities trader Vitol has agreed to acquire Noble Americas Corp. from the Noble Group, previously one of the largest Asian-based traders in LNG, oil and other fuels which is currently restructuring after financial problems.