Cheniere: Innovative deal structuring on Corpus Christi

This year saw one of the first innovative upstream gas supply deals for a US Gulf Coast liquefaction plant.

In June, Cheniere had signed a long term gas supply agreement with Apache for its Corpus Christi Stage III trains. The Corpus Christi Stage III project is being developed to include up to seven midscale liquefaction trains with a total expected nominal production capacity of approximately 9.5mtpa.

The supply agreement will be for gas volumes of 15mmbtu/day, delivered to Corpus Christi, and more importantly Apache will receive a gas price that will be the LNG price less a fixed liquefaction fee and certain costs incurred by Cheniere.

The LNG associated with this gas supply is c.0.85mtpa and will be marketed by Cheniere.

“This first-of-its-kind long-term agreement with Apache represents a commercial evolution in the U.S. LNG industry, as it will ensure the continued reliable delivery of natural gas to Cheniere from one of the premier producers in the Permian Basin, while enabling Apache to access global LNG pricing and receive flow assurance for its gas,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s President and CEO.

“This commercial agreement, which is expected to support the Corpus Christi Stage III project, reinforces Cheniere’s track record of creating innovative, collaborative solutions to meet customers’ needs and support Cheniere’s growth.

Apache’s agreement with Cheniere is part of the company’s long-term strategy to leverage the scale of our assets in the Permian Basin and diversify our customer base and cost structure by accessing new markets for natural gas produced at Alpine High. We are pleased to partner with Cheniere in this innovative marketing agreement,” said John J. Christmann IV, Apache’s Chief Executive Officer and President.

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PGNiG shuns Russian gas

PGNiG is increasingly boldening its signals on shunning Russian gas as it turns to the west. The Polish state has historically been dependent on gas imports from its eastern neighbour but is looking to loosen its reliance to the communist state.

Poland consumes around 17 bcm of gas annually, more than half of which comes from Gazprom under a long-term contract that expires in 2022. It is seeing the upcoming expiry as the opportunity to diversify its gas supply ahead of time and has consistently stressed that Gazprom is charging Poland too much for the gas noting that Russia has taken advantage of the historic lack of other sources of gas which is now changing with the advent of LNG.

Poland has also vehemently opposed plans by Russia to build a new gas pipeline across the Baltic Sea which is aimed at strengthening its dominant market position into Europe. Instead Poland is looking to sanction the Baltic gas pipeline later this year or beginning of 2019 which will bring gas directly from Norway.

The last month has seen a flurry of newsflow around PGNiG’s activity in sourcing new gas.

In mid-October, PGNiG finalised terms with Venture Global for 2mtpa of LNG. It will buy LNG for 20 years on a FOB basis with supplies commencing under two contracts for 2022 and 2023. The FOB contracts are deemed attractive for PGNiG as it can choose to take the LNG to Poland or use it in its trading portfolio. The terms are not disclosed but understood to be in line with other Gulf Coast LNG contracts being 115% x Henry Hub plus a toll of c.USD2.50/mmbtu. Venture Global is currently developing the Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal on the US Gulf Coast.

This has been followed by a 24 year LNG deal with Cheniere Energy at the beginning of November. PGNiG has signed up a 1.45mtpa deal with LNG supplied by Cheniere’s Sabine Pass, Louisiana and Corpus Cristi, Texas liquefaction plants. The contract is for delivery on a DES basis directly to the 5Bcm/year Swinoujscie terminal in Poland. Poland is also looking to expand the import terminal to 7.5Bcm/year in part of the countries grander ambitions to become a LNG and gas trading hub.

PGNiG also farmed-in to the Tommeliten Alpha in the Norwegian North Sea on the upstream side at the end of October. See PGNiG expands footprint in Norway.

#PGNiG #LNG #Russia #Gazprom #VentureGlobal #Cheniere

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US LNG: a snapshot of where things stand in 2018

US shale has been a game changer for the gas markets. Often overshadowed by oil story, US gas production is the unloved sibling of oil – oversupplied, low prices, unprofitable and sometimes an unwanted by-product of oil production in the form of associated gas.

However 2017 came to demonstrate the vast potential for US gas and a complete change in direction with the country becoming a net exporter of gas for the first time. This started with first export from Sabine Pass LNG in 2016 which has now grown to four liquefaction trains with trains 5 in the works.  LNG export capacity could reach 8-9bcf/d in 2020 up from the current 2bcf/d, with additional facilities already under construction:

• Cove Point commenced feed gas at the end of 2017
• Elba Island Phase I will come onstream in H1 2018 and Phase II in H1 2019
• Freeport train 1 is planned for operation in 2018 with subsequent trains coming online throughout the rest of 2018 and 2019
• Corpus Christi and Cameron will also come online towards the end of this decade

Source: EIA

US LNG has been somewhat of a disruptor – it has brought destination flexibility and shorter-term procurement to the market that was once characterised by entirely long-term, oil-price linked offtake. This will shake up the market place and how LNG sourcing will evolve is yet to be understood.

Asia is slated to be the big winner with this extra source of gas with South Korea, Japan and China being the largest importers. This is all helped by the recent expansion of the Panama Canal, enabling LNG from the US east coast to Asia with a cheaper and 11 day shorter journey time. This puts into question whether any US west coast and Canadian LNG projects will take off – very likely no in the near-term. The east coast’s proximity to upstream gas, existing pipeline infrastructure to get gas to liquefaction plants and adapted docks means it remains an advantageous location to host LNG terminals.

Related post: Canadian LNG: Wrong place wrong time for Petronas

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