Chevron not looking to invest in building US LNG plants, official says
19/09/2024 22:19
By Curtis Williams
HOUSTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Chevron CVX.N does not
want to invest in the construction of U.S. LNG plants, as it is
not the best use of the company's capital and it can easily sell
its U.S. gas, said a top official on Thursday.
The head of Chevron's midstream, Colin Parfitt, also ruled
out taking an equity stake in Woodside Energy's WDS.AX
impending purchase of Louisiana-based Driftwood LNG.
"We chose not to do the owning and operating but we do deals
that allow us to have production of gas in the U.S. and
translate it into LNG for our customers," Parfitt said in an
interview.
Woodside has said it is prepared to sell up to 50% stake in
the proposed 27.6 million tons per annum Driftwood liquefied
natural gas project.
The U.S. is unique in that Chevron can monetize its gas
production without having to convert it to LNG since the country
had a large midstream market.
One of the ways that Chevron plans to benefit from LNG
output in the U.S is through sales and purchase agreements with
LNG developers. It has separate agreements with Cheniere Energy
LNG.N and Venture Global LNG, the latter of which has been in
contract disputes with big customers.
"I have sat with Venture Global in the past and I am very
well aware of the noise that's out there. Our view is if we have
an issue with a supplier then we talk to them and we do talk to
Venture Global very directly," Parfitt said.
Large projects are prone to delays and the Biden pause on
export reviews that held up LNG export approvals to non FTA
countries will also slow down the next phase of projects,
Parfitt said.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston)
((Curtis.Williams@thomsonreuters.com; +1 346 324 7560;))