China reached an agreement on three huge liquefied natural gas deals with U.S. exporter Venture Global LNG, bringing the exporter’s Plaquemines Parish plant one step closer to a final investment decision, Reuters reports.
Venture Global is expected to announce its decision on the plant—which will have the capacity to export more than 20 million tons per annum of LNG—by the end of this year. The site, in conjunction with two others in Louisiana, would make the state one of the largest LNG export sites in the country.
According to documents posted on the U.S. Department of Energy website, the agreements with China’s state oil giant Sinopec include two 20-year deals for a combined 4 million tonnes of LNG per year. For China—which has this year overtaken Japan as the world’s top LNG buyer—the deals make up the single-largest LNG trade agreement in terms of volume without an equity stake, a senior Beijing-based gas industry source says. They will also double the volume China imports from the U.S., its sixth-ranked supplier last year.
Venture Global also signed a third deal with Unipec, the trading arm of China’s Sinopec, to supply 1 mtpa of LNG from its Calcasieu Pass Facility for three years starting from March 1, 2023, which will boost LNG activity across south Louisiana.
Both of the 20-year deals are sales and purchase agreements, according to the notice, which did not specify when the supplies would start, but added they were signed last month. Read the full story.
