Page 15 - GLNG Week 07
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GLNG AMERICAS GLNG
Enbridge to acquire Rio Bravo pipeline
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
Rio Grande LNG is
one of three export terminals proposed for the Port of Brownsville.
CALGARY-BASED Enbridge has struck a deal to buy the planned Rio Bravo gas pipeline from US LNG developer NextDecade. e pipeline will supply the Rio Grande LNG project, which NextDecade is proposing to build at the Port of Brownsville in South Texas. e deal illustrates Enbridge’s growing confidence in the area’s LNG export potential, as the pipeline company also has a 10.5% equity stake in a rival project, Annova LNG, that is also being proposed for the Port of Brownsville. However, the details of the Rio Bravo deal suggest Enbridge is still proceed- ing with some caution.
Under the de nitive agreement, announced on February 13, Enbridge will buy the Rio Bravo pipeline for up to $25mn in cash. Of this, $15mn is due to be paid upon the deal’s closing, and the remaining $10mn would be paid in the event of NextDecade reaching a nal investment decision (FID) on the Rio Grande terminal.
Once the transaction closes, Enbridge will own 100% in the pipeline, and will be solely responsible for its construction and operation.
e two companies have also negotiated a
precedent agreement, under which NextDec- ade will retain its rights to the natural gas rm’s transportation capacity on the Rio Bravo pipe- line for a period of at least 20 years to supply the Rio Grande facility. is would be executed upon closing of the pipeline sale, which is anticipated in the rst quarter of 2020.
e 137-mile (220-km) Rio Bravo pipe- line is designed to carry 14.5bn cubic feet (127.4mn cubic metres) of gas from the Agua Dulce hub near Corpus Christi, Texas, to Brownsville. Enbridge already moves gas from Agua Dulce to Brownsville via the Val- ley Crossing pipeline, which then connects to another pipeline o shore to carry the gas on to Mexico. Valley Crossing was brought into service last year.
In January, Enbridge struck a deal to supply Annova LNG with gas from Valley Crossing, which would be expanded with a roughly 9-mile (14-km) lateral connecting to the terminal if that project goes ahead. Rio Grande, Annova and another project in the same area – Texas LNG – all still need to reach FID.
ASIA
Petronas’s PFLNG Dua launches from South Korean yard
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
MALAYSIA’S state-owned Petronas has said its second oating lique ed natural gas (FLNG) unit – PFLNG Dua – is two weeks away from arriving at the deepwater Rotan gas eld.
e company said this week that the vessel had set sail from Samsung Heavy Industries’ (SHI) yard in South Korea and that the journey of around 1,840 nautical miles (3,408 km) would take around two weeks to complete.
PFLNG CEO Abang Yusuf Abang Puteh said in December 2019 that the 1.5mn tonne per year (tpy) PFLNG Dua was anticipated to start com- mercial operations in November 2020. e unit is expected to process gas from Rotan, which lies in 1,300 metres of water, for at least 15 years.
e company’s rst FLNG vessel, the 1.2mn tpy PFLNG Satu, is installed at the Kebabangan gas eld in 70-200 metres of water. It also lies o - shore Kota Kinabalu.
In separate news, Petronas subsidiary Pet- ronas LNG has signed a 12-year charter agree- ment with Japana’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K
Line) for two mid-sized new build LNG vessels. e agreement for the two vessels comes with a 12-year extension option.
In a statement, Petronas said K Line had contracted Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding to construct the vessels in Shanghai, China, with delivery slated for the second quarter of 2022. Each vessel will have 79,960 cubic metres of capacity.
“ ese identical vessels will be dedicated to serving Petronas’ long-term LNG delivery com- mitment to Shanghai under the new LNG supply agreement with Shenergy Group,” the Malaysian company said. e two new vessels are known as Wuhaogou-Max (W-Max).
Petronas said in January that it had agreed to supply about 1.5mn tpy of LNG Shenergy’s Wuhaogou receiving terminal in Shanghai for 12 years from 22. e agreement also involved a “shipping collaboration to construct and charter new mid-sized LNG vessels for the cargo delivery.”
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