Weekly Industry Roundup

USLNG Industry and Select No. American Natural Gas Industry Developments
Dec. 23 to Jan. 06

Rio Grande: Fifth Circuit Upholds 404 Permit (E&E News)
Niina Farah (Jan. 06): The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Jan. 05 roundly dismissed a challenge from Rio Grande Valley shrimpers and fishermen against a water permit for an LNG export terminal and pipeline in south Texas. The court ruled the Army Corps of Engineers had not violated Clean Water Act protections against the discharge of pollutants into federally protected waters when it approved a modified permit in 2021 for the Rio Grande LNG project and Rio Bravo pipeline.

EQT: All Pneumatic Controllers Eliminated (Release)
Jan. 04: EQT replaced or retrofitted nearly 9,000 pneumatic controllers on all EQT production locations and compressor stations through a “fit-for-purpose” strategy using primarily electric actuators and air compressor installations… The entire conversion process cost $28 million, took 515 days, and was completed a full year ahead of schedule. According to the company, EQT reduced its methane emissions by 70% and reduced its annual carbon footprint by 305,614 metric tons of CO2e by eliminating 100% of the gas-powered pneumatic devices from its production operations.

EOG Resources: Joins OGMP 2.0 (Release
Jan. 04: EOG Resources has joined the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0), UNEP’s flagship oil and gas reporting and mitigation program. President & COO Billy Helms: “We are excited to join OGMP 2.0 to demonstrate our support for accurate and transparent data collection and reporting and encourage industry-wide innovation and progress to reduce methane emissions.” … In 2021, EOG piloted iSense, a proprietary solution which uses methane sensing technology to continuously monitor facilities and provide real-time alerts to a central control room.

Plaquemines: Construction Increases Requested (LNG Prime)
Dec. 29: According to a Dec. 27 filing, Plaquemines LNG has requested authorization to increase the peak workforce to up to 6,000 per day, as compared to 3,600 before and asked FERC to increase traffic volumes to accommodate the additional workforce and implement a 24/7 construction schedule. VG said approval of the variance request would help the firm to meet the Dec. 2025 target date to complete construction of both phases of Plaquemines. FERC today (Jan. 06) set a Friday, Jan. 27 deadline to file public comments and motions to intervene in the VG request to expand construction at Plaquemines LNG to 24/7 schedule with 6,000 peak workers.

Port Arthur: First Phase Nearly Sold Out After RWE Deal (NGI)
Jamison Cocklin (Dec. 28): Sempra Infrastructure has finalized a deal to sell Germany’s RWE 2.25 mtpa of LNG from the first phase of its proposed Port Arthur export project in Jefferson County, Texas. The LNG would be sold for 15 years on an FOB basis. CEO Justin Bird said the agreement keeps the first phase of Port Arthur on track for an FID in Q1 2023… Since Nov., European buyers including Engie, INEOS, and Galp have signed deals for U.S. offtake. Engie and INEOS also signed up for supplies from Port Arthur.

Rio Grande: NextDecade Announces Increase of ENN SPA (Release)
Dec. 27: NextDecade Corp. announced a volume increase of its SPA with ENN LNG for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas. Under the 20-year SPA, ENN will now purchase 2.0 mtpa, a 0.5 mtpa increase from the original SPA announced earlier this year. All volumes of LNG are indexed to Henry Hub and will be supplied from the first three trains at RGLNG on an FOB basis.

CP2: Inpex signs 20-year LNG deal with Venture Global
Dec. 27: Inpex, Japan’s biggest oil and gas explorer, said on Tuesday that it has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales and purchase agreement with Venture Global LNG. Under the agreement, Inpex will buy 1.0 mtpa) of LNG for 20 years on an FOB basis.