US LNG exporter Venture Global LNG has signed a heads of agreement with a unit of Ukraine’s DTEK to supply liquefied natural gas to Ukraine and Eastern Europe.
Under the deal, DTEK’s unit D.Trading will buy cargoes from Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG facility beginning later this year through the end of 2026 to support near to medium term energy security needs for Ukraine and the broader Eastern European region, according to a statement.
In addition, the deal provides that D.Trading will purchase up to 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Venture Global’s third facility, CP2 LNG, for 20 years.
Ukraine does not have LNG import terminals.
Venture Global also said that the HoA calls for cooperation on opportunities to access regasification terminal capacity and gas pipeline capacity that “provide an integrated and flexible transport path to support the energy security of the region”.
Plaquemines LNG to start production
Venture Global’s operational Calcasieu Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana has a capacity of 10 mtpa, but the firm has not yet declared the start of commercial operations.
Last month, Venture Global said its expects to start LNG production at its Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana in mid-2024.
Venture Global took a final investment decision in May 2022 on the first phase of the Plaquemines project with a capacity of 13.3 mtpa and the related pipeline. It also secured $13.2 billion in project financing.
In March last year, the company sanctioned the second phase of the Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana and also secured $7.8 billion in project financing.
The full project, including the second stage, will have a capacity of 20 mtpa coming from 36 modular units, configured in 18 blocks.
CP2 LNG
According to Venture Global, to date, the initial phase of CP2 LNG has been sold through 20-year sales and purchase agreements with ExxonMobil, Chevron, Jera, New Fortress Energy, Inpex, China Gas, SEFE, and EnBW.
“Venture Global is in active discussions for the remaining capacity, and has launched significant off site construction of the project while it awaits project authorizations from US regulators,” it said.
The firm previously urged the US FERC to act on its CP2 LNG project.
The CP2 LNG plant will be located next to Venture Global’s existing Calcasieu Pass liquefaction plant in Louisiana.
It will have 18 liquefaction blocks, each with a capacity of about 1.1 mtpa of LNG, but also four 200,000-cbm full containment LNG storage tanks.
FERC issued a positive final environmental impact statement for the project in July last year.
Besides the FERC approval, CP2 LNG also needs the non-FTA export authorization from the US Department of Energy.
However, the Biden administration paused in January pending decisions for LNG export terminals.
The US paused pending decisions on exports of LNG to non-FTA countries until the DOE can update the underlying analyses for authorizations.