Targets 20 mtpa, from 4.5 mtpa now
Crown prince meeting Trump in Washington
Saudi Aramco is set to sign two US liquefied natural gas supply deals with Woodside Energy and Commonwealth LNG when Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Washington this week, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The world’s largest oil exporter wants to become a major LNG player, especially in the United States, where capacity is to almost double over the next four years. It has already signed deals with other US companies, including NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG.
The Saudi giant is targetting 20 million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG capacity, with 4.5 million tons currently in progress, Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser said in a call with analysts in August.
Shell, the world’s biggest LNG trader, sold around 66 mtpa last year.
Aramco is expected to secure supply of up to 2 mtpa from Commonwealth LNG’s proposed facility in Cameron, Louisiana, three industry sources said.
Meanwhile, a deal with Woodside is expected to see Aramco buy a stake in the company’s $17.5 billion Louisiana LNG project as well as strike an offtake agreement to secure up to 2 mtpa of supply, said four industry sources.
Aramco declined to comment. Woodside said it does not comment on market speculation and referred to an earlier agreement to explore opportunities to collaborate with Aramco. Commonwealth LNG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The deal will bring Commonwealth LNG closer to the 8 mtpa it plans to sell out of the plant’s capacity of 9.5 mtpa.
Commonwealth wants to build the United States’ first integrated LNG export facility that will see its major shareholder Kimmeridge sell gas from its Eagle Ford shale production to the plant.
It plans to make a financial investment decision on construction of the plant by the end of the year.
Woodside gave a final approval for its project in April – a three-train, 16.5 mtpa plant that is expected to start producing LNG in 2029.