LNG

Seoul has firmly rejected US assertions that South Korea had committed to investing up to $54 billion in the proposed 20 mtipa Alaska LNG project. President Lee Jae-Myung said the government had only agreed to begin "working on" Alaska LNG, with any investment remaining conditional on the project’s commercial viability.

The fourth LNG storage tank at Gate Terminal on the Maasvlakte port area in Rotterdam has been completed and commissioned on schedule. The expansion adds 4 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year of regasification capacity, bringing Gate’s total capacity to 20 bcm/y.

ConocoPhillips has committed to offtake 1 million ton per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Venture Global for 20 years, starting in 2020. The deal further expands Venture Global’s sales portfolio. The company has over 100 mtpa of capacity in production, construction, or development making it one of the largest US LNG exporters.

Venture Global has filed with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), seeking authorization to place its Phase 1 Plaquemines LNG export terminal into service, the final regulatory hurdle before commercial start-up. If approved, Venture Global could meet its targeted Q4-2026 commercial operation date.

Glenfarne and Alaska Gasline Development Corp are working to transform Letters of Intent (LoI) from JERA and TotalEnergies of France into firm, financeable offtake contracts, a critical step toward a final investment decision (FID) on the long-mooted $54 billion Alaska LNG export venture.

Germany’s energy industry association BDEW has urged the government to seek an exemption from EU methane rules for imported LNG and to suspend the market-area conversion levy on gas storage facilities, arguing the measures are adding to the cost of replenishing storage ahead of winter.

SEFE, Germany’s state-owned gas importer, has been instructed to buy and store an additional 8 TWh of natural gas by December 15, as Berlin seeks to strengthen winter supply in the face of tight global LNG markets and persistent supply risk to shipments from the Middle East.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has said it received a report late on Wednesday that an LNG tanker has been struck in the Strait of Hormuz by an unknown projectile. Authorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution.

GasEntec has been selected by EXMAR to supply regasification modules for an LNG carrier-to-FSRU conversion that will expand the EemsEnergyTerminal in Eemshaven, with completion scheduled for late Q3-2027.