US LNG developers are facing project delays as they struggle to sign new long-term contracts. During an industry conference in Houston, some of these company’s executives said that they found it hard to advance projects construction this and next year, especially without China as a buyer.
Hope was high at the start of the year when Washington and Beijing signed an initial trade deal, where China pledged to increase its purchases of US energy products. However, China’s door remains shut mostly due to weaker-than-expected demand and trade flow restrictions caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
Exelon-backed Annova LNG has been in development in five years, but it has yet to announce any firm supply contract. The project aims at selling 4 million tons/year of LNG from its 6.5 million tons/year terminal in Brownsville, Texas, before making a final investment decision, according to Annova CEO Omar Khayum.
Commonwealth LNG has been targeting an FID for its 8.4 million tons/year liquefaction project in Cameron Parish by early 2021. Yet, it has not announced any firm offtake agreement. CEO Paul Varello said the project faced harsh commercial environment, especially as China effectively closed for business.
Tellurian recently laid off 38% of its workforce to ease its financial burdens. Tellurian previously targets to export the first cargo from its Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana by 2023. To finance the project, the company needs to seal new partnership agreements.
