Page 12 - AsianOil Week 27 2022

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NextDecade pens two more LNG

deals with Chinese buyers

PIPELINES & US LNG developer NextDecade has signed sup- development of the remaining two at a later
TRANSPORT ply deals with two more Chinese buyers, cover- stage.
ing the delivery of a combined 2mn tonnes per These mark the second and third supply deals
NextDecade is lining year (tpy) of the fuel. that NextDecade has struck with Chinese buy-
up buyers for its Rio On July 5, the company announced sign- ers. In April it signed a 20-year agreement for
Grande project in Texas. ing a 20-year LNG agreement with China Gas 1.5mn tpy of supply from Rio Grande to ENN
Hongda Energy Trading for 1mn tpy of supply Natural Gas.
from the Rio Grande LNG terminal it is devel- “Rio Grande’s differentiated offering of a
oping in Texas. The first batch is expected to be lower carbon-intensive LNG continues to drive
delivered in 2027, and supplies will be made our commercial momentum,” company CEO
on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, with the price Matt Schatzmann said in a statement.
indexed to the Henry Hub benchmark. NextDecade also agreed to sell LNG to
The following day NextDecade said it had France’s Engie in early May, covering 1.75mn tpy
agreed to sell 1mn tpy of LNG from Rio Grande of supply from Rio Grande over 15 years. Engie
to Guangdong Energy Group, with an option for had previously abandoned talks over a potential
the Chinese firm to take an additional 500,000 $7bn, 20-year contract to buy LNG from Rio
tpy. This agreement is also linked to Henry Hub, Grande in 2020. It reportedly came under pres-
but the gas will be delivered on an ex-ship basis. sure from the French government as the feed-
NextDecade expects to take a final invest- stock for US LNG is shale gas, which is produced
ment decision (FID) on the first three trains at using hydraulic fracturing. France banned frack-
the five-train 27mn tpy Rio Grande project in ing in 2011 and had appeared to be keen to apply
the second half of this year, and greenlight the similar standards to imported energy. ™

Sinopec reports strong shale result

PROJECTS & CHINA Petroleum & Chemical Corporation well depth in the belt is more than 3,500m, with
COMPANIES (Sinopec) last week announced that shale gas the deepest well so far being the Dingye Well-8
output at its Xinye Well-1 has reached a daily where the shale gas layer is at a depth of 4,614m,
The company says the production capacity of 530,000 cubic metres. according to the company.
well confirmed more The company said the well, located in Qijiang, In the statement Sinopec drew attention to
than 100 bcm of gas in Chongqing, has confirmed shale gas reserves the advances it has made in developing its shale
the Xinchang structure. amounting to more than 100bn cubic metres in gas resources. It said that in 2017 it had estab-
the Xinchang gas structure. lished a deep shale gas R&D team for research
Sinopec has established a shale gas resource in Dongxi. It has since built up the theoretical
belt linking the gas fields of Xinchang South understanding of deep shale geology and put it
– Dongxi – Dingshan – Lintanchang in the into practice.
south-eastern Sichuan Basin, the company said The company said it attaches great impor-
in a statement released on July 4. The ‘belt’ has tance to exploring deep shale gas and innovating
an overall shale gas resource volume 1.19305 theories and technologies including fracturing
trillion cubic metres, making it the second tril- for deep shale gas wells as well as achieving
lion-level shale gas reserve operated by Sinopec, domestic production of fracturing equipment,
after its Fuling shale gas field. tools and materials. The company said it had
The shale gas resources will contribute to realised a 100% drilling ration of high-quality
ensure China’s energy security, Sinopec said. shale.
The Xinye Well-1 has a depth 5,756m, the Sinopec said it would now strengthen the
company said, adding: “the structure belt has a precise evaluation of the Xinchang gas field
large favourable area and resources of shale gas, and boost evaluation and distribution of
making it a key area for Sinopec’s strategic explo- the belt shale gas resources in south-eastern
ration and production of shale gas.” The average Sichuan. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 11•July•2022