Page 17 - GLNGl Week 24

GLNG AUSTRAL ASIA GLNG

Chevron plans NWS stake sale

INVESTMENT US super-major Chevron has announced plans there is no sign of a final deal on that front with
to sell its 16.6% stake in the North West Shelf repeated reports of mounting friction between
(NWS) LNG project in Western Australia. the partners. Woodside deferred the project fol-
The company said on June 18 that it had lowing the oil price crash in March.
decided to offload its non-operated interest in Wood Mackenzie senior analyst David Low,
Australia’s oldest gas export project after it had however, has flagged Woodside as a leading
received “a number of unsolicited approaches candidate to buy Chevron’s stake. He said: “In
from a range of credible buyers”. terms of buyers, there are a few likely suitors, but
Chevron’s stake could fetch $3-4bn, accord- of the existing participants we see Woodside as
ing to one unnamed analyst quoted by Reuters. the most likely buyer. It is well-positioned finan-
Woodside Petroleum operates the project, in cially and has announced it is ready and look-
which BHP, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and a joint ing for merger and acquisition opportunities in
venture consisting of Japan’s Mitsubishi and Mit- Australia.”
sui & Co are also partners. Chevron said it remained committed to its
Chevron has previously said it is on track to Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects, with
reach its reach its divestment target of $5-10bn Low noting that the super-major’s focus going
between 2018 and 2020, suggesting that the sale forward would be on “squeezing maximum
has been motivated more by the difficulties in value” from the projects without “distractions”
outlining the next phase of the project’s lifecycle. from the NWS.
With the NWS feedstock fields running dry, The sale comes as Australia’s gas exporters are
the project partners have struggled to reach an feeling the pinch from dwindling global demand
accord on new gas supplies. Unnamed analysts on the back of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan-
told Reuters that Chevron’s failed bid to supply demic’s economic rout.
gas from its undeveloped Clio-Acme fields had Australian gas exporters shipped 93 cargoes
given added impetus to the sale. in May – amounting to 6.4mn tonnes – which
While the NWS partners signed an initial was down seven cargoes from April, accord-
deal in 2018 on processing gas from Woodside’s ing to energy consultancy EnergyQuest’s latest
Browse development under a tolling agreement, monthly gas sector report.™
EUROPE

Croatian LNG terminal fully

booked for first few years

PROJECTS & THE import capacity of Croatia’s planned Krk 0.624 bcm per year in 2025-26 to 2029-30 and
COMPANIES LNG terminal is fully booked for its first few 0.936 bcm in 2030-31 to 2034-35. PowerGlobe
years of operation, the project’s developer LNG is an LNG management firm based in Qatar,
Hrvatska announced on June 15, after a major the world’s biggest exporter of the super-cooled
reservation by Qatari firm PowerGlobe. fuel.
All the terminal’s 2.5bn cubic metre per Earlier this month seven years of capacity
year of gasification capacity has been sold out were booked by Hungary’s MFGK and three
between its launch on January 1, 2021 and Octo- years by Swiss-based trading group MET. Two
ber 2023. Some 2.1 bcm of annual capacity has Croatian firms also made reservations.
been reserved over the following four years up The Krk project is anticipated to deliver gas
until October 2027, and a further 1.14 bcm per not only to Croatian customers but potentially
year between 2027 and 2030. others in Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia and
“By this project we achieve security of gas Slovenia. Its €234mn ($266mn) cost is partially
supply for Croatia and we contribute to the secu- covered by a €101mn grant from the European
rity of gas supply for the EU,” Croatian Energy Commission, which has listed it as an EU project
Minister Tomislav Coric said on June 16. “Due of common interest (PCI).
to the higher competition on the gas market we There were concerns about whether there was
expect that the gas prices in Croatia may fall.” enough gas demand in Southeast Europe to jus-
LNG Hrvatska reported that PowerGlobe tify Krk’s construction. But results from the lat-
had subscribed for 15 years of capacity at Krk. est capacity auctions have dispelled these doubts.
This included 0.468 bcm between January 1 and According to Coric, the project should generate
September 30, 2021, a further 0.468 bcm annu- more than €100mn ($113mn) in revenues over
ally in the gas years 2021-22 up until 2024-25, the next five years.™

Week 24 19•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17