U.S. LNG exporter Venture Global is cashing in on its recently launched Plaquemines LNG plant, which has yet to be commissioned, by selling cargoes on the spot market, making much more money from the facility than the commissioned Calcasieu Pass plant which now sells LNG under long-term contracts.
In December 2024, Venture Global reached first LNG production at its second facility, Plaquemines LNG, in Port Sulphur, Louisiana.
While the plant achieved first LNG production, its buyers under long-term contracts – including ExxonMobil, Chevron, EDF, and Petronas – may have to wait until the end of 2026 or 2027 to receive cargoes when the commissioning period expires and the facility achieves the so-called commercial operation date.
The long commissioning period allows Venture Global to sell LNG cargoes on the spot market, earning more than if it sold gas to long-term customers under fixed fees.
The much higher revenues from the not-yet-commissioned Plaquemines LNG became evident in an SEC filing of the company. The filing showed that Venture Global exported 51 cargoes from its Plaquemines LNG facility in the second quarter, realizing a weighted average fixed liquefaction fee of $7.09/MMBtu.
To compare, Venture Global’s exports from the commissioned Calcasieu Pass facility totaled 38 cargoes, allowing the company to realize a weighted average fixed liquefaction fee of approximately $2.66/MMBtu—over two times lower.
Venture Global is a relative newcomer on the LNG stage but it has already earned a controversial reputation for not keeping its long-term contracts and instead selling all its LNG on the spot market to make more money.
The company’s defense has been that its first LNG plant, Calcasieu Pass, was not really completed, which left it with a loophole to sell on the spot market but not make deliveries under long-term contracts.
Venture Global gained notoriety after half a dozen European energy majors accused it of breaking long-term delivery contracts to sell LNG on the spot market at higher prices. This made Venture Global billions of dollars while causing losses for the long-term clients, which contributed to the funding of the U.S. company’s first LNG plant.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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