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Report: Argentine LNG could serve Asian demand
PERFORMANCE
A new report has found that Argentina’s growing gas output, coupled with competitive LNG costs, can be expected to make the Latin American country an emerging source of gas supply to Asia during periods of peak demand. Consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in its new research that global LNG demand was increasingly showing seasonality. It added that Argentina’s peak LNG production potential coincided with strong demand from Asian utilities.
is comes as shale gas production is rising in Argentina thanks to the emergence of the Vaca Muerta play – including associated production from oil drilling. With large-scale LNG produc- tion expected to begin in the country in 2024, Wood Mackenzie anticipates volumes reaching 6 million tonnes per year (tpy) that year, and rising to 10 million tpy by 2030.
According to the consultancy, it would also be cheaper to ship LNG to Asia from Argentine export terminals than it would from the US Gulf Coast, with tankers being able to avoid conges- tion in the Panama Canal.
“Vaca Muerta’s gas production has dramati- cally changed the outlook for Argentinian gas. It is already bringing cheap gas for local indus- try and also supporting the construction of new major gas pipelines,” Wood Mackenzie’s prin- cipal analyst for Latin America gas and LNG, Mauro Chavez Rodriguez, said.
“Nevertheless, not even the domestic demand and exports to neighbouring countries such as Chile and Brazil are enough for Vaca Muerta’s gas potential. LNG exports could be a solution that enables Vaca Muerta’s production to continue the growth story,” he added.
Rodriguez noted that some Asian players are already active in the Vaca Muerta, including Petronas and China National O shore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) subsidiary Pan American Energy.
“We see further opportunities for Asian play- ers looking for foreign investment, not only in upstream but also for major midstream infra- structure, such as gas processing plants, pipe- lines, have petrochemicals, and LNG export plants,” he said.™
Cheniere starts LNG production at Corpus Christi Train 2
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
LEADING US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy announced on June 13 that the second train at its Corpus Christi terminal on the Texas Gulf Coast had started LNG production. In a brief statement on its social media channels, the company also said it expected Train 2 to reach substantial com- pletion ahead of schedule. No further details – such as a target date for the commissioning cargo from Train 2 – had been provided as of press time.
e rst phase of Corpus Christi LNG con- sists of three trains, which were initially designed to produce 4.5 million tonnes per year (tpy) each. But earlier this month, Cheniere said it had increased its run-rate production guidance for the trains at both its Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass liquefaction projects to 4.7-5.0 million tpy per train. is has been attributed to production and maintenance optimisation, as well as debot- tlenecking e orts, at both terminals.
Train 1 at Corpus Christi LNG came online
earlier this year, a er shipping its rst cargo in December 2018 during a test run. Cheniere said start-up of Train 1 had also been achieved ahead of schedule. Train 3 is expected to be fully oper- ational in 2021.
e exporter has also recently con rmed that it is aiming to make a nal investment decision (FID) on Stage 3 of Corpus Christi LNG in 2020. e third stage of development at the project is set to involve up to seven smaller-scale trains, with a combined nominal production capacity of 9.5 million tpy of LNG.
Corpus Christi Stage 3 received a posi- tive environmental assessment from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March. According to Cheniere, it is expected to receive all its remaining regu- latory approvals by the end of the year. e company’s recently announced gas supply agreement with Apache is expected to sup- port the development of Stage 3.™
Week 24 20•June•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P5