Venture Global Signs Another Pair of LNG Supply Deals With China

(Bloomberg) -- Venture Global LNG Inc. signed two more gas export contracts with China as cargo prices at record levels add pressure on overseas buyers to enter into long-term deals and lock in lower costs. 

The U.S. liquefied natural gas developer signed a pair of 20-year supply deals with China’s CNOOC Gas & Power Group Co for a total of 3.5 million metric tons a year, the companies said in a joint announcement Monday. 

Supply agreements with China are the latest windfall for the U.S. LNG industry, which is poised to emerge as the world’s top producer of the power plant and heating fuel just as European and Asian buyers face a shortfall this winter. So far this year, four U.S. developers have signed 17 deals, seven of which were signed by Venture Global.

Under one deal announced Monday, Venture Global’s proposed Plaquemines LNG export terminal in Louisiana will supply CNOOC with 2 million metric tons of LNG per year. The other agreement will have Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export terminal, under construction in Louisiana, providing another 1.5 million metric tons per year. 

With the average LNG tanker holding about 72,000 tons of the superchilled power plant fuel, the Plaquemines deal represents nearly 28 cargoes a year and the Calcasieu Pass agreement, almost 21 cargoes.

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