LNG Export Terminal Buildout -- December 22, 2024

Locator: 44503LNG.

There is nothing new here as far as I can tell. Just a recap of the LNG export terminal buildout.

First the EIA, link here: North America's LNG export capacity is on track to more than double by 2028 -- that's only three years from now --

Of note:

• Energia Costa Azul, reported earlier this year, link here;
  

• Golden Pass, expansion at Sabine Pass; partnership: QatarEnergy and XOM;
• Rio Grande, NextDecade; Brownsville, TX, first of three liquefaction trains;
• Port Arthur: Jefferson County, TX; two liquefaction trains; joint venture, Sempra and COP, with long term commitments from COP, INEOS (British), PKN Orlen (Baltic Energy, Poland), and Engie, SA (French electric utility);
  
  

Greenpeace, June 23, 2023, link here -- a most interesting source, but very comprehensive. Archived here. Back in 2023, Greenpeace says there were seven active US LNG export terminals. That agrees with what was stated the other day, making Plaquemines, number eight.

Look at all the sites approved (yellow dots) but not yet under construction, as of June 23, 2023).

Of note, along with Cameron and Calcasieu Pass:

• Lake Charles LNG
• Driftwood
• Magnolia
• Commonwealth

This is wiki's list, as of December 22, 2024:

Two additional comments:

• best source for up-to-date information on this subject: RBN Energy
• these export terminals depend on adequate pipeline supply from the Permian

The Big Story For The Day -- NGL -- The Permian -- The US -- May 13, 2024

Locator: 47141LNG. 

RBN Energy: Azul -- January 20, 2021. Link here. Now, four years later (2025), Sempra says Costa Azul may be ready for action.

RBN Energy: new pipe will upend Permian NGL flows to non-Belvieu markets -- again. Archived.

For years, the South Texas NGL market was a world of its own — a self-contained liquids ecosystem centered around the refineries and petrochemical plants in the Corpus Christi area.

But that all changed about six years ago when EPIC Midstream built a new NGL pipeline from the Permian into Corpus and a new fractionator to process those liquids. Corpus morphed into a vibrant NGL market in its own right. But nothing with South Texas NGLs is easy.

Before the EPIC system was even up and running, a consortium calling itself BANGL — short for Belvieu Alternative NGL — announced another pipeline to compete for Permian NGLs that would parallel EPIC’s route out of the Permian, but then make a hard left toward Sweeny and Texas City, setting up a battle of the pipes for Permian NGLs.

The Panama Canal and US LNG.

• Link here. The Panama Canal is key to American LNG. 

Azul updates:

Azul: A number of RBN Energy blogs. Start here.

EIA:

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Biden's LNG Export Pause

RBN Energy: gauging the impact of the DOE's pause in LNG export licenses. Archived.

There’s no doubt about it: The Biden administration’s decision to pause approval of LNG export licenses poses a new threat to a number of projects thought to be nearing a final investment decision (FID).

The questions brought on by the move are profound: how big of a problem is this for U.S. developers, how does the timeout affect the projects now in limbo, and — over the longer term — what does the added uncertainty regarding incremental LNG exports mean for U.S. crude oil and natural gas production and what does it mean for the global energy landscape? In today’s RBN blog, we discuss the factors that led to the administration’s announcement — and the case to be made that expanded LNG exports are in the U.S.’s economic and strategic interest.

The U.S.’s mammoth reserves of natural gas, combined with strong global demand for LNG, have spurred a sharp rise in LNG export volumes over the past few years. As recently as December, an average of about 14 Bcf/d of LNG — or around 14% of the dry gas produced in the U.S. each day — is being liquefied and shipped overseas, almost all of it from export terminals along the Gulf Coast. And, with several new LNG export projects under construction, we expect those volumes to nearly double over the next four years.

One Wonders If Qatar Is Watching -- Update On Costa Azul -- April 14, 2024

Locator: 47008NATURALGAS.

 
I track Coast Azul here. 

Link here but I'm sure there are many links elsewhere.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy is targeting summer of 2025 as the commercial operations date for its 3.25 mtpa (0.43 Bcf/d) nameplate capacity Energía Costa Azul (ECA) LNG Phase 1 project, located in Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico. The project will source U.S. gas.

This is a must-read, NY Times, February 13, 2024. Truly incredible.

As soon as next year, the United States’ fossil fuel industry will gain its first foothold on a valuable shortcut to sell natural gas to Asia. The shortcut goes straight through Mexico.

The new route could cut travel times to energy-hungry Asian nations roughly in half by piping the gas to a shipping terminal on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, bypassing the traffic- and drought-choked Panama Canal.

The terminal is symbolic of an enormous shift underway in the gas trade, one that will influence fossil-fuel use worldwide for decades and have consequences in the fight against climate change.

The American fracking boom has transformed the United States into the world’s largest gas producer and exporter. At the same time, the rest of the world has begun using ever more gas — in power plants, factories and homes — partly to move away from dirtier fuels like coal. Demand is particularly growing in China, India and fast-industrializing Southeast Asian countries.

And more, with a map, whoo-hoo! :

In Mexico, the action is centered for now on a gas terminal, Energía Costa Azul, that was originally designed to send gas in the other direction: For more than a decade it has unloaded gas from Asian tankers and piped it to California and Arizona to be burned to produce electricity.

Fracking changed everything.

Now Costa Azul, pinched between Baja California’s agave-covered mountains and the vast Pacific Ocean, is undergoing a $2 billion transformation into an export facility for American-produced gas. It’s the first in a network of gas exporting facilities planned down Mexico’s West coast.

Good News, Bad News, Whatever -- It Depends Where You Stand -- April 2, 2021

This is a great example of "it depends on which side of the issue you stand," whether this is great news or not such great news. Being a long-time admirer of Sempra Energy, I find this story delightful. 

Harry Weber, over at S&P Global, says shrinking North American LNG field raises fears of "oligopolistic" supplier futures among panelists.

They should have put me on the panel. LOL. 

Link here. 

There is a mismatch between the amount of available financing and the number of quality liquefaction projects, making it difficult to add new supplies to a tight global market, infrastructure investment experts said March 25 during S&P Global Platts' LNG Virtual Conference. 

The dearth of newly sanctioned export projects in 2020 and so far in 2021 — especially in North America, which has been responsible for the majority of new LNG supply globally over the last five years — is a worrisome sign that could lead to more price volatility in the future, the officials said.

In North America, there was only one new liquefaction project sanctioned last year — Sempra Energy's Energia Costa Azul project on Mexico's Pacific Coast. More than a dozen other developers in the US, Canada, and Mexico are actively pursuing projects of their own, although the field is dwindling amid ongoing contracting and financing challenges. Exelon-backed Annova LNG recently scrapped its LNG export project in Texas. Analysts expect more US greenfield projects to drop off the board.

Whoo-hoo! 

LNG Bottleneck At The Panama Canal -- December 8, 2020

From RBN Energy today:

On the 8th of October, the LNG carrier Golar Penguin loaded a cargo for RWE at the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas. Five days later, on October 13, the vessel was sitting just north of Panama. But then, the ship abruptly changed direction on the 14th and headed towards the Cape of Good Hope to deliver to the Far East. The reason for the diversion was that the vessel did not have a passage booked in the new locks of the Panama Canal and would have had to wait approximately nine days for its turn to transit, before heading across the Pacific Ocean to Asia. Since then, as queues of LNGCs for Panama Canal transits, both northbound (ballast) and southbound (laden) have developed, more ships have opted for the longer route. In today’s blog, we look at the delays that have developed surrounding the Panama Canal and the implications that its operations hold for global LNG trade.

The 2016 expansion of the Panama Canal to accommodate larger vessels with larger beams and greater drafts was a big deal for LNG shippers looking to lower the per-unit costs of delivering to Asia (more on the economics in a bit). But as increasing shipments seek to traverse the canal, wait times have increased and led to a bottleneck that not only affects existing traffic but presents a challenge for future projects hoping to minimize costs in a highly competitive global LNG market. The delays currently being experienced for voyages to Asia via the Panama Canal route were much less of a problem over the summer when shut-ins of U.S. LNG production reduced the waiting time for LNG carriers wishing to pass in either direction. However, all first-wave LNG production facilities, with the exception of Corpus Christi Train 3, are now operational, resulting in nameplate production capacity of over 60 MMtpa from the Lower 48 states, or roughly a sixth of the current world production capacity. In November, the U.S. sent out a record number of cargoes — and that number will likely be surpassed this month. Given the determination of project sponsors aiming to develop a second wave of U.S. Gulf Coast LNG export schemes, what constraints and costs will the Panama Canal impose on these projects, and just as importantly, what advantage might the projects under development on the west coast of North America enjoy over their rivals? We’ll get to answering that shortly, but first some historical background on the Canal usage and scheduling.

Earlier, over at ZeroHedge:

Back on June 24, 2016, the NY Times dissed the Panamanians over their widening of the canal. Link here.

Update here. 

This is one of the reasons I find SRE so exciting. They saw this coming and made the decision to build a huge LNG export terminal on the west coast of California. Baja California, that is. Previously posted. 

The story is tracked here.  

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SRE: Coasta Azul

Sempra's Baja California LNG export terminal -- biggest LNG story of the year? 

Link here.

Panama Canal -- Update -- December 3, 2020

Back on June 24, 2016, the NY Times dissed the Panamanians over their widening of the canal. Link here.

Update here. 

This is one of the reasons I find SRE so exciting. They saw this coming and made the decision to build a huge LNG export terminal on the west coast of California. Baja California, that is. Previously posted.