Portfolio players roar into post-Ukraine invasion LNG contracting lead
Three deals boost the share of volumes going into global books
Shell, US superindie ConocoPhillips and trading house Vitol have secured access to 9.1mn t/yr of North American LNG offtake for their portfolios in July. And this means that—in a bonanza of SPAs and preliminary, less-binding deals sparked by concerns over gas supplies in the wake of Russia’s Ukraine invasion that has now topped 46mn t/yr—portfolio players have hoovered up 21.85mn t/yr, or 47.5pc of total volumes (see Fig.1). The biggest deal is ConocoPhillips’ heads of agreement (HoA) with US infrastructure firm Sempra to acquire a 30pc equity holding in the Port Arthur LNG project in Texas and c.5mn t/yr of LNG offtake for 20 years. The superindie will supply the gas, and potentially more,
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