Trading house Gunvor Group Ltd. has agreed to double its purchase of liquefied natural gas from Commonwealth LNG’s $4 billion export terminal project in Louisiana. The trading firm will also secure more customers for the terminal.
Gunvor will buy 3 million tons/year of LNG from Commonwealth LNG, as well as the remaining volumes from the facility, which can produce up to 8.4 million tons/year. The Houston-based Commonwealth LNG aims at making a final investment decision (FID) in 2021 and starts LNG exports three years later.
The competition in securing LNG customers is getting fiercer as market are flooded with supply from projects in Australia and Russia. Meanwhile, US LNG exporters have lost their Chinese buyers due to the trade war.
On the other hand, trading houses become more dominant players in the US LNG project development. Vitol Group has struck a 15-year deal with Cheniere Energy Inc on LNG purchase. Gunvor previously agreed to buy 1.5 million tons/year of LNG from Commonwealth for 15 years.
