EQT in deal with Energy Transfer Louisiana Lake Charles LNG export plant

Lakeland Industries

26/07/2023 13:28

July 26 (Reuters) - EQT  EQT.N , the biggest U.S.
natural gas producer, entered into an liquefied natural gas
(LNG) agreement with U.S. energy firm Energy Transfer's  ET.N 
proposed Lake Charles liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant
in Louisiana.
    EQT said in its second-quarter earnings release late Tuesday
that the gas liquefaction, or tolling, agreement was for 1
million tonnes per annum of LNG.
    Earlier this month Energy Transfer said it entered three
non-binding agreements for a total of 3.6 MTPA of LNG from Lake
Charles. Energy Transfer said one of those agreements was a
tolling arrangement for 1 MTPA for a 15-year term with an
unnamed U.S. customer.
    Those three agreements, however, came even though the U.S.
Department of Energy refused to extend Lake Charles'
authorization to sell LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
countries beyond December 2025.
    Energy Transfer has vowed to keep developing Lake Charles
even though it usually takes about four years to produce first
LNG after construction starts. The company has not yet made a
final investment decision (FID) to start building the project.
    Officials at EQT were not immediately available for comment
on the Lake Charles deal. The company, however, will hold an
analyst call on the earnings later Wednesday.
    Based on an industry estimate of around $800 million per
MTPA, it could cost about $13.2 billion to build the 16.5-MTPA
Lake Charles project, before financing and other costs.
    The two other Lake Charles agreements were with a Japanese
consortium that will purchase 1.6 MTPA of LNG for a 20-year term
and a unit of U.S. energy company Chesapeake Energy  CHK.O  that
will supply enough gas to produce 1.0 MTPA of LNG for 15 years
that will go to a unit of Swiss commodities trader Gunvor.

 (Reporting by Scott DiSavino, Editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 332 219 1922; Reuters
Messaging: scott.disavino.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))