博彩对冲

The high-profile legal battle involving Louisiana's Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal is already changing how US supply contracts are written, as buyers seek to avoid lengthy delays in receiving their cargoes, industry analysts and officials agree.

Venture Global on Apr. 15 began commercial operations at its 1.4 billion cubic foot per day export facility, triggering long-term supply contracts that have gone unfulfilled during the unprecedented three-year commissioning process that led some of the world's largest gas companies to take the Virginia-based developer to arbitration court.

鈥淭his dispute will likely reset expectations across the industry," Tom Sharp, director of permitting intelligence with consultancy Arbo, told 博彩对冲. "Future long-term LNG contracts will almost certainly include more precise language to avoid ambiguity around commissioning periods. Buyers and their counsel will be more diligent in defining key milestones and obligations, particularly in light of how the Calcasieu Pass situation has unfolded.鈥�

But Sharp stressed that Arbo doesn't expect a broad retreat from sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) with US exporters "where there鈥檚 a sound commercial case. The caution will be in the terms, not necessarily in the decision to contract.鈥�

鈥淟awyers are getting more careful in drafting of contracts,鈥� a source familiar with US LNG negotiations told 博彩对冲, while another said many contracts have already been tightened up so the "ability to game the commissioning period is largely eliminated.鈥�

A third industry source said contractual fixes for SPAs started in 2022 and 2023, as soon as the commissioning on Calcasieu Pass extended beyond six months with no end in sight.

Arbitration Ongoing

Venture Global has faced a barrage of criticism from its contracted offtakers, which include BP, Shell, Spain鈥檚 Repsol and Portugal鈥檚 Galp 鈥� who argued the company kept delaying commercial operations while it raked in billions of dollars in the lucrative spot market in Europe during commissioning. Venture Global continued insisting that Calcasieu Pass wasn't ready to transition to commercial operations due to equipment requiring repairs.

Now that commissioning has ended, Reuters reported last week that the Cheniere-controlled Gaslog Wellington tanker was the first vessel to receive LNG from the plant under now-triggered long-term deals, but that it was not clear which customer would receive the cargo.

But the legal battle over Calcasieu Pass is far from over. Shell, BP and Repsol, along with offtakers Orlen, Edison and Repsol, still have arbitration claims pending against Venture Global in a London court that could wrap up next month, 博彩对冲 understands.

Details of the proceedings are secret, but sources have said the companies are seeking compensation for being forced to buy cargoes on the spot market while they waited for the long-term contracts to kick in. The process might involve separate arbitrations with each of the aggrieved offtaker, making the outcome and timing uncertain.

Venture Global has warned that losing in the arbitration court would create irreparable damage to the company as it builds a similar export terminal on the Gulf Coast 鈥� the 1.4 Bcf/d Plaquemines LNG.

Shell is also a contracted offtaker from Plaquemines, as are fellow supermajors Chevron and Exxon Mobil, German electricity supplier ENBW and Malaysia's Petronas. "We're closely watching how Venture Global handles the Plaquemines rollout to see whether similar issues emerge," Sharp said.

Venture Global expects to start commercial operations at Plaquemines by mid-2026, a year and a half after shipping its first cargo, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filing.

Reputation at Risk

Even if things move more smoothly at Plaquemines, Venture Global 鈥渨ill have to live with the reputation they created for themselves," an industry source said. "That will be as much an overhang on the company and stock price as the arbitration."

Venture Global also faces, as do its peers, increases in liquefaction costs caused by inflation, labor shortages and now President Donald Trump's tariffs.

鈥淭heir approach emphasized speed but ended up not being cheap,鈥� the same source said. "Now they are in the cross hairs of all the forces driving a further increase in cost."