NO. 1: Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC is looking to ramp up construction at the 18 million metric tons/year (mmty) capacity project after a bankruptcy court approved a deal between the project partners and Zachry Holdings Inc.
At an interim hearing Wednesday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas gave the greenlight for a settlement that allows Golden Pass and its construction contractors to pay vendors and progresses Zachry’s bankruptcy proceedings. In exchange, San Antonio-based Zachry will exit the project.
“This allows Golden Pass and our construction contractors McDermott and Chiyoda Corp. to ramp up site construction activities and progress our” liquefied natural gas terminal, a Golden Pass representative said. “Going forward, we are focused on getting people back to work, including local workers and vendors, and progressing this critical energy project.”
The court stipulated that some settlement provisions could be contingent on issuing a final order in Zachry’s bankruptcy case. That is set for consideration in mid August.
The risk of continued delays in construction has caused market speculation on when the project’s first train could ramp up feed gas demand. Each of the three trains at Golden Pass in Southeast Texas could add around 700 MMcf/d in feed gas demand, according to NGI calculations.
In June, Golden Pass estimated the first train was 83% complete and, with a full workforce, it could be ready by mid-2025. At peak construction, more than 7,000 people were expected to be working on the project.
ExxonMobil, which is partnering in Golden Pass with QatarEnergy, is scheduled to issue its quarterly results on Aug. 2. Some analysts are anticipating updated guidance at that time.
NO. 2: Feed gas flows to Freeport LNG Development LP were reportedly climbing Thursday after the terminal on the upper Texas coast experienced an outage for several hours Wednesday, according to an environmental filing.
Freeport LNG reported to Texas regulators that a power outage at its upstream pretreatment facility forced a shutdown for all production, which led to the reduction of gas flows. Freeport engineers also noted that operations had been ongoing at all three liquefaction trains.
Feed gas nominations were reduced to near zero from July 7-15 after Hurricane Beryl came ashore near the facility. Flows began at the beginning of last week at a reduced level, indicating a possible phased restart.
Feed gas flows had previously topped 50% of pipeline capacity Wednesday, near the highest point since production was idled earlier in the month. A third vessel – in less than a week – also loaded one of Freeport’s berths Wednesday, according to Kpler data.
Nominations for Thursday were scheduled at more than 558,000 MMBtu, or around 30% of capacity, according to Wood Mackenzie pipeline data.
NO. 3: Crown LNG Holdings Ltd. has plans to build and install a floating LNG import terminal in the UK after selecting IKM Engineering and Environmental Consultants (IKM) as the design and engineering firm.
IKM was selected to perform pre-front end engineering design (FEED) and FEED activities for the floating storage and regasification unit planned for the Firth of Forth, Scotland. Crown has completed a site study and is now seeking regulatory approval from the Scottish and federal governments before reaching a final investment decision.
Most LNG volumes imported in the UK are delivered either to the Dragon and South Hook facilities in Wales, or to the Grain terminal in southeastern England. LNG imports delivered to the UK are often re-exported to Europe to meet gas demand, supporting efforts to move away from reliance on Russian gas.
Grain is being expanded to store and deliver enough gas to meet up to 33% of UK demand. It can currently import about 15 mmty.
Meanwhile, the UK’s newly formed Labour government has proposed an agenda that could reduce natural gas demand. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has embraced plans to end North Sea drilling and hasten the transition from relying on fossil fuels for electricity generation.
UK natural gas pipeline and LNG imports fell by nearly 20% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. This was partially attributed to reduced demand for transshipments through the UK. LNG imports during the first quarter alone dropped by more than 45% year/year.
