Houston, 12 May (Argus) — Disruptions and fallout from the Iran war have raised buyer demand for five-year LNG deals, US LNG producer Venture Global (VG) said today after announcing two new medium-term agreements.
The company announced combined sales of 1.05mn t/yr to TotalEnergies and Vitol, both for five-year periods beginning in 2026. VG will sell TotalEnergies 850,000 t/yr and increased the volume on a previously announced contract with Vitol by 200,000 t/yr to 1.7mn t/yr.
“What maybe before (the war) would have been more one- and two-year deals, we’re seeing more five-year deals,” VG chief executive Mike Sabel said Tuesday on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.
Iranian drone attacks in March damaged 12.8mn t/yr of capacity at Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG export terminal, reducing capacity to 64.2mn t/yr. QatarEnergy says could the damage could take three to five years to repair.
Venture Global’s production profile has enabled the company to offer more short-term and medium-term supplies. The company’s two operating terminals in Louisiana — Calcasieu Pass LNG and Plaquemines LNG — have a combined peak capacity of about 39.6mn t/yr, with the 28mn t/yr CP2 terminal expected to begin producing in the second half of 2027. Uncontracted production from VG’s first two terminals and commissioning cargoes from CP2 will allow more medium-length deals, with additional supplies coming from the expansion projects at CP2 and Plaquemines, Sabel said.
Sabel detailed VG’s expansion plans to add another 16.4mn t/yr through 2029 (see table). The company raised its planned additions to CP2 to 10mn t/yr, up by 3.6mn t/yr with 12 new liquefaction trains. The company is targeting a final investment decision (FID) on the additions in early 2027, with first production in late 2028.
VG also intends to reach FID on a 6.4mn t/yr expansion at Plaquemines in 2027, targeting first production in 2029 from eight new trains.
With the new production capacity expected through 2029, VG has 33.1mn t/yr of LNG available to sell, most of which will still be sold under long-term contracts, Sabel said. Those typically run for periods ranging from 15 to 20 years.
The company tightened its expected cargo range this year to 494-523 shipments from 486-527 previously. About 84pc of those cargoes are already under contract.
To date, VG has realized weighted average liquefaction fees of $/mn Btu for its 2026 cargoes, with a weighted average of $/mn Btu at Calcasieu Pass and $/mn Btu at Plaquemines. The company expects the unsold cargoes to retrieve weighted average liquefaction fees of $/mn Btu.
VG anticipates selling 550-600 cargoes in 2027, 850-900 cargoes in 2028 and 950-1,000 cargoes in 2029, based on current production schedules.
VG reported first-quarter profit of $625mn on sales of $4.6bn, up from year-earlier profit of $517mn on sales of $2.9bn.
By Tray Swanson
