Page 11 - GLNG Week 47 2022

GLNG AMMERICAS GLNG

NFE, Pemex finalise strategic

partnership agreement for

Lakach gas project

PROJECTS US-BASED New Fortress Energy (NFE) said integrated natural gas infrastructure business
on November 22 that it had finalised a strategic model,” he said. “This arrangement represents
partnership agreement with Mexico’s national the first of what we consider to be an ideal for-
oil company (NOC) covering Lakach, a deep- mula for the deployment of NFE’s FLNG units to
water natural gas field located off the coast of stranded gas plays around the world – one that
Veracruz state. combines gas for domestic use with low-cost
In a statement, NFE explained that it would supply for LNG export into global markets.”
be serving as Pemex’s contractor for the devel-
opment and operation of the Lakach field. Under Edens also drew attention to the fact that
the agreement, the US company will complete Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obra-
the development of Lakach via the provision of dor was backing the alliance between Pemex
various services, including the drilling and com- and his company. “Over the last several months,
pletion of seven offshore wells and the deploy- we have enjoyed the opportunity to expand
ment of the Sevan floating LNG (FLNG) unit to our relationship with Mexico’s leading energy
the field. This vessel, which is currently under- companies,” he commented. “We appreciate
going conversion at a shipyard in Singapore, will President López Obrador’s continued interest
handle most of the gas extracted from the site, in and support of our development process and
turning out 1.4mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG. look forward to delivering reliable solutions that
NFE, in turn, will be responsible for produc- enhance energy security for the people of Mex-
ing the gas. It will serve as Pemex’s upstream ser- ico and our customers around the world.”
vice contractor, extracting gas and condensate Octavio Romero Oropeza, the CEO of
and receiving a fee for every unit of production Pemex, added: “Pemex is pleased to finalise
delivered to the NOC. “The fee is based on a con- this strategic partnership with NFE, a leading
tractual formula that resembles industry-stand- energy infrastructure company. We believe this
ard gross profit-sharing agreements between the partnership will enable Pemex to efficiently lev-
upstream service provider (NFE) and the owner erage our domestic natural gas resources, fulfil
of the hydrocarbons (Pemex),” the statement Mexico’s security of supply targets and facilitate
said. gas-fired power infrastructure development in
It further explained that NFE would have the region.”
the right to purchase gas from the field at a con- The National Hydrocarbons Commission
tracted rate and in sufficient volumes to keep its (CNH), Mexico’s national oil and gas regulator,
FLNG unit running. Pemex, meanwhile, will approved plans for the development of Lakach
have the right to sell all the remaining volumes on October 31. NFE and Pemex have said they
of gas extracted from Lakach, as well as 100% of hope to develop the field together with two
the condensate. nearby sites, Kunah and Piklis. These two sites
Wes Edens, the chairman and CEO of NFE, make Lakach a more attractive prospect, as they
expressed satisfaction with the deal. “We are hold around 2.3 trillion cubic feet (65.13bn cubic
pleased to finalise our strategic partnership with metres) of gas in addition to Lakach’s 1 trillion
Pemex, which strengthens our commitment to cubic feet (28.3bn cubic metres) of gas in proven
long-term operations in Mexico, and we believe and probable reserves.™
demonstrates the substantial value of our

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