Q2 2024 Activities and Opportunities

  • The subsidiaries of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) and Sempra have executed a non-binding heads of agreement (HoA) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply from the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 expansion project in Jefferson County, Texas. The HoA is for a 20-year sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for LNG offtake of 5.0 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) from the project of Sempra Infrastructure LLC. (Rigzone, 27 June 2024)

  • Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers are potentially facing a couple of challenges in the global market: an oil supply glut and a global LNG oversupply. (Rigzone, 19 June 2024)

  • Shell Eastern Trading Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Shell plc, has agreed to acquire Pavilion Energy Pte. Ltd., Singapore, adding to the operator’s global LNG portfolio.  Financial details were not disclosed. Shell plans to grow its LNG business by 20-30% by 2030, compared with 2022, while purchased LNG volumes are expected to grow by 15-25%, relative to 2022. (Oil & Gas Journal, 19 June 2024)

  • Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd. (NNPC) has tapped Golar LNG Ltd. for the deployment of a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Nigeria. (Rigzone, 17 June 2024)

  • Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Aramco) has signed a non-binding heads of agreement (HoA) with NextDecade Corporation for a 20-year liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement (LNG SPA) for offtake from Train 4 at the Rio Grande LNG Facility at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, USA. (Rigzone, 14 June 2024)

  • Venture Global LNG Inc. and the commercial arm of DTEK Group, D. TRADING, have executed a heads of agreement (HoA) for the supply of US LNG to Ukraine and Eastern Europe. The HoA provides that D. TRADING will purchase cargoes from Venture Global's 20-million tonne/year (tpy) Plaquemines LNG plant in Plaquemines Parish, La., beginning later this year through end-2026 to support near to medium term energy security needs for Ukraine and the broader Eastern European region. (Oil & Gas, 14 June 2024)

  • Japan is showing signs it will boost its needs for LNG-fired power generation through to the next decade due to an upward revision of its future electricity consumption and a greater emphasis on energy security, according to delegates at an industry gathering in Tokyo last week. (Energy Intelligence Group, 11 June 2024)

  • The value-chain emissions of liquified natural gas (LNG) are lower on average than for coal-fired power generation, even when the fuel is shipped over long distances, according to new research from Rystad Energy. Natural gas that is produced and liquified in the US and shipped to Asia on return journeys of about 23,000 miles could emit up to 50% less than even the cleanest coal power plants. (Rystad Energy, 11 June 2024)

  • QatarEnergy has roped in a new partner for the North Field East expansion project through an agreement with Taiwan’s state-owned oil and gas company CPC Corp., which also signed a long-term offtake for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. (Rigzone, 10 June 2024)

  • The LNG regasification segment is set to dominate upcoming oil and gas midstream projects in China. That’s what data and analytics company GlobalData said in a release sent to Rigzone recently, outlining that the segment will account for about 47 percent of the midstream projects beginning between this year and 2028. (Rigzone, 10 June 2024)

  • Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) has signed a preliminary agreement to source gas from Pantheon Resources PLC for Alaska LNG, a federally authorized project to export up to 20 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year. (Rigzone, 6 June 2024)

  • QatarEnergy signed definitive agreements with CPC Corp., Taiwan, covering the long-term supply of LNG to CPC and partnership in the North Field East LNG expansion project (NFE). QatarEnergy will supply 4 million tonnes/year (tpy) of LNG from the NFE project to CPC over a period of 27 years. (Oil & Gas Journal, 6 Kime 2024)

  • TotalEnergies SE has signed two new liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts in Asia, in line with its strategy of growing its LNG business. The Paris-based energy major signed a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) for the delivery to India of up to 800,000 tons per year of LNG for ten years from 2026. (Rigzone, 5 June 2024)

  • Tellurian Inc. is in discussions with Saudi Aramco and Woodside Energy Group Ltd. over the two companies investing in its liquefied natural gas export project in Louisiana, according to people familiar with the matter. (Rigzone, 4 June 2024)

  • Santos Ltd. has signed a binding long-term liquified natural gas (LNG) supply and purchase agreement (SPA) with Japan-based Hokkaido Gas Co., Ltd. Beginning in 2027, approximately 0.4 million metric tons per annum of LNG for 10 years will be supplied through the SPA from Santos’s LNG portfolio on a delivered ex-ship basis. (Rigzone, 29 May 2024)

  • Qatar expects to secure more long-term agreements with liquefied natural gas (LNG) customers this year, QatarEnergy chief executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi has said, assuring ongoing projects are on track to double the Gulf state’s LNG production capacity in the next few years. (Rigzone, 17 May 2024)

  • The main oil company of the United Arab Emirates bought a stake in NextDecade Corp.’s natural gas export project in Texas, its first acquisition in the US that will also give it supply from the plant for 20 years. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. will take a 11.7% stake in phase 1 of the Rio Grande LNG project. The deal also gives ADNOC 1.9 million tons a year of liquefied natural gas supply from the project’s future Train 4. (Rigzone, 20 May 2024)

  • ExxonMobil Corp. has signed an LNG supply deal with Turkey. Per the agreement with BOTAŞ, ExxonMobil will supply 2.5 million tpy of LNG for 10 years. (Oil & Gas Journal, 10 May 2024)

  • QatarEnergy has signed a “long-term” charter agreement with Qatar Gas Transport Co. Ltd. (Nakilat) assigning Nakilat ownership and operatorship of nine QC Max-size liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels. State-owned QatarEnergy earlier selected Nakilat for the ownership and operatorship of 25 conventional-size LNG carriers. (Rigzone, 10 May 2024)

  • Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC has signed a new deal to supply LNG from a planned large export facility to a German firm. The 15-year LNG agreement with EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW), one of the largest energy companies in Germany, for the delivery of 0.6 million metric tons per annum (mmtpa) of LNG from the Ruwais LNG project, which is currently under development in Al Ruwais Industrial City, Abu Dhabi. Deliveries from the project are expected to begin in 2028, once commercial operations start. (Oilprice.com, 8 May 2024)

  • Gunvor International B.V. has executed a non-binding heads of agreement (HoA) to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) from LNEnergy Limited.  Gunvor will purchase approximately 44,000 metric tons of LNG per annum from LNEnergy at its planned small-scale LNG production facility at the Colle Santo gas field, located onshore Italy. (Rigzone, 6 May 2024)

  • The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, is anticipating further growth in natural gas trade, thanks to three new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects, which are slated to come online by the end of next year. (Offshore Energy, 1 May 2024)

  • BP has entered into a long-term LNG sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS). Under the agreement, BP will provide KOGAS with up to 9.8 million t of LNG over 11 years on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis from BP’s diverse portfolio of LNG sources. This deal is in addition to the existing long-term SPA between BP and KOGAS for DES supply of LNG that was signed in 2022. (Hydrocarbon Engineering, 30 April 2024)

  • Qatar’s state-owned energy giant QatarEnergy is bolstering its giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) fleet expansion with a $6 billion deal for 18 ultra-modern QC-Max size LNG vessels, which are said to be the largest LNG ships ever built. (Offshore Energy, 30 April 2024)

  • Venture Global LNG Inc. expects to begin production at its second liquefied natural gas export facility in Louisiana in mid-2024, further cementing the US as the world’s biggest supplier of the super-chilled fuel. The Arlington, Virgina-based company requested approval to receive an LNG shipment to cool down its equipment as part of its start-up process at the Plaquemines LNG facility. (Rigzone, 29 April 2024)

  • Japan’s gas utility provider Tokyo Gas has sold minority interests in four liquified natural gas (LNG) projects off the coast of Australia, with law firm Norton Rose Fulbright acting as legal counsel. (Offshore Energy, 26 April 2024)

  • Texas LNG Brownsville LLC, a subsidiary of Glenfarne Energy Transition, LLC, has sold over half of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) offtake with a second heads of agreement (HOA) with EQT Corporation. The second HOA is for natural gas liquefaction services for an additional 1.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG over 20 years. (Rigzone, 25 April 2024)

  • MidOcean Energy, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company formed and managed by investment company EIG, has completed the acquisition of Korea-based SK earthon’s interest in Peru LNG (PLNG). (Offishore Energy, 24 April 2024)

  • Oman LNG is in early discussions with the government to expand production with its fourth train, possibly adding more than 30% to existing capacity with an eye toward filling a potential shortage seen in 2029 and onward. (S & P Global, 23 April 2024)

  • Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (SHI) is set to deliver a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel ordered by financial and asset management giant J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has reported. (Rigzone, 22 April 2024)

  • Oman LNG has signed a 10-year liquefied natural gas supply agreement with Shell, as the state-owned Omani company optimises its operations to meet global consumer demand. The deal involves up to 1.6 million metric tonnes of LNG a year and will start from next year. (The National News, 17 April 2024)

  • Liquefied natural gas (LNG) remains the fuel of choice for lower-carbon shipping, despite the rise in orders for vessels equipped with dual-fuel methanol and ammonia engines, according to Rystad Energy analysis. While question marks remain around just how environmentally friendly LNG is as a shipping fuel, its price competitiveness, abundant supply and well-developed infrastructure give it an advantage over the alternatives. This is particularly evident with LNG bunkering; fueling ships with LNG. (Rystad Energy, 17 April 2024)

  • The Energy Market Authority (EMA) and JERA Co., Inc. (JERA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on mutually beneficial areas in liquefied natural gas (LNG) procurement and supply chains for Singapore and Japan. Under the MoU, EMA and JERA will share best practices and knowledge in LNG procurement and management of LNG supplies as well as explore collaboration opportunities in LNG procurement and supply chain management. (Energy Market Authority, 16 April 2024)

  • The United States exported 10% more natural gas in 2023 than in 2022, a record of 20.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to our Natural Gas Monthly. U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports accounted for more than half of all U.S. natural gas exports, and natural gas exports by pipeline to Canada and Mexico accounted for the remainder. (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 15 April 2024)

  • Philippine electricity supplier First Gen Corp. (FGEN) said Monday it has awarded a contract to CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing Ltd. for the supply of about 130,000 cubic meters (4.6 million cubic feet) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the Southeast Asian country. (Rigzone, 15 April 2024)

  • QatarEnergy has finalized long-term TCP (time charter party) agreements with Asian ship owners to add 19 vessels to its LNG carrier fleet as it continues to strengthen its logistics capability ahead of a near doubling of LNG output from the North Field expansion. (JPT, 5 April 2024)

  • MidOcean Energy, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) arm of energy investor EIG, has announced Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. as an anchor investor, after MicOcean said it plans to supply the East Asian country through newly acquired assets in key LNG exporter Australia. (Rigzone, 4 April 2024)

  • EIG, the private equity group that partnered with Brookfield for a failed $20 billion takeover of Origin Energy, has secured a foothold in Australia’s gas sector, taking a minority stake in three large projects across Queensland and Western Australia. The Washington-based group said it would open an office in Perth to oversee its investments in Woodside Energy’s Pluto LNG, Chevron’s Gorgon venture and Shell’s Queensland Curtis project. (Australian Financial Review, 3 April 2024)

  • QatarEnergy and five shipping companies have signed time-charter agreements for 44 newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, raising the number of vessels under QatarEnergy's LNG fleet expansion program to over a hundred, the state-owned gas major said. Twenty-five of the 44 ships announced last week will be owned and operated by Qatar Gas Transport Co. Ltd. (Nakilat) after the two Qatari companies consummated an agreement first announced February 10, according to a news release by QatarEnergy. (Rigzone, 2 April 2024)

  • MidOcean Energy, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company formed and managed by institutional investor EIG, has completed its acquisition of Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd’s interests in a portfolio of Australian integrated LNG projects. The acquisition includes Tokyo Gas’ interests in the Gorgon LNG, Pluto LNG and Queensland Curtis LNG projects. (Rigzone, 1 April 2024)

See past activities and opportunities for companies like Gulf Energy below: