Australia’s Woodside has entered into a flexible long-term sale and purchase agreement with German energy firm Uniper to supply LNG from its global portfolio into Europe, including Germany.
According to a joint statement on Monday, the supply would start in January 2023 and last up to 2039.
Under the deal, Woodside Energy Trading Singapore would supply up to twelve cargoes per year, equivalent to more than 0.8 million tonnes per annum or one billion cubic meters of natural gas, to Uniper Global Commodities.
Supply from September 2031 is conditional upon Uniper finalizing its long-term strategic capacity bookings in Northwest Europe, expected by March 2023, the statement said.
Woodside’s CEO Meg O’Neill said the new agreement built on the company’s existing relationship with Uniper.
O’Neill said this latest agreement with Uniper would provide a new source of LNG for consumers in Europe who are seeking alternatives to Russian gas.
“It also reflects the increasingly interconnected nature of LNG trade in the Atlantic and Pacific basins as global markets respond to energy security challenges,” she said.
Uniper’s CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach said this agreement “secures additional LNG supplies for our customers in Europe, which has become ever more important due to recent developments.”
“It will support our security of supply strategy together with the development of our LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven,” Maubach said.
Second deal in a day
Besides this contract, Uniper on Monday announced a deal for ammonia and LNG supply with Japan’s Jera, while Woodside finalized a supply deal with Commonwealth LNG for the latter’s proposed plant in the US.
Uniper has been tasked by the German government to secure LNG supplies for the country’s FSRU-based terminals.
Germany currently has no regasification facilities but the country is fast-tracking LNG imports to reduce reliance on Russian gas and boost energy security.
RWE and Uniper previously chartered four FSRUs on behalf of the German government.
Uniper has already started building Germany’s first FSRU-based LNG facility in Wilhelmshaven and expects to commission it this winter, while Dutch gas grid operator Gasunie said it expects the Brunsbuettel FSRU-based LNG import terminal to go online by the end of this year.
Besides these two terminals, Germany has also chosen Stade and Lubmin as the next two locations to install the chartered units.
In addition, Germany recently chose E.ON, Belgium-based Tree Energy Solutions (TES), and a unit of France’s Engie to deploy an FSRU chartered from US player Excelerate Energy in Wilhelmshaven.