Although continuing low oil prices affect the LNG industry in expected ways (e.g., delays and cancellations in the development of LNG export projects) and unexpected ways (e.g., take-overs between major players in an already consolidated industry), a prolonged LNG oversupply notwithstanding tapering Asian demand could be the most widespread industry impact in 2016. This article examines the top ten questions the LNG industry may face this upcoming year. Given that LNG is now considered the most valuable physical “commodity” after crude oil, how the industry reacts to the oversupplied, low-price environment could have far-reaching consequences globally.
1. Will Any Export Projects Take FID?
Only a handful of export projects took a final investment decision (FID) in 2015 -- only one of which is a greenfield project (Cheniere’s Corpus Christi LNG) and two relating to existing LNG export projects (Cheniere’s train 5 expansion at Sabine Pass, Louisiana and Australia’s North West Shelf Greater Western Flank Phase 2 upstream gas development project).[1] While Pacific Northwest LNG took conditional FID in mid-2015, the FID depended on obtaining certain governmental approvals,[2] which approvals are now subject to local oppositions.[3] Other projects were cancelled in 2015, including Australia’s Arrow LNG and Colombia’s Pacific Rubiales project.[4] For some, project postponement, whether officially announced or simply the reality, may be tantamount to a cancellation in due course.
A number of projects still aim to take FID in 2016 allowing construction to proceed, including Anadarko’s Mozambique LNG, Eni’s project offshore Mozambique, Pacific Northwest LNG, Jordan Cove LNG, Magnolia LNG, Lake Charles LNG, and Goldboro LNG.[5] The key to the successful development of these projects will be their ability to attract buyers / customers. The need for customers in an LNG buyers’ market is one reason that small- to mid-scale projects may lead the next wave of export projects. These projects will have less production capacity to sell and lower costs to finance. Even leading experts will have difficulty predicting which export projects will take unconditional FID in 2016. Project developers may be forced to assume that postponing FID after 2016 is inevitable and turn their attention to increasing the competiveness of their projects and ensuring sufficient development funding remains available to reach the elusive “finish line”.
2. How Much Will LNG Oversupply (and Introduction of U.S. LNG) Change Contracting Approaches? Will Buyers Forcefully Renegotiate or Renege on Purchase contracts?
An unprecedented increase in liquefaction capacity is expected by 2020 as a result of completion of at least 12 greenfield projects under construction throughout the world, having the capability to produce approximately 118.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), as noted in the following table. These projects will add to the three export projects that commenced production in 2015: Australian projects Gladstone LNG (7.8 MTPA) and Australia Pacific LNG (9 MTPA), and Indonesian project Donggi-Senoro (2 MTPA).
A prolonged LNG oversupply is predicted due to such increase, creating an LNG buyers’ market at present. As a result, more buyer-friendly terms are arising in LNG sale and purchase contracts, such as greater volume and destination flexibility and, in two publicized cases, more seasonality in deliveries.[6]
In addition, Petronet shook up the market by opting to buy LNG from spot cargoes versus honoring its contracts to purchase LNG from RasGas (and thereby causing Petronet to take less than its required cargoes under its RasGas contract).[7] RasGas and Petronet have since negotiated to revise the price under their contract to the tune of a 50% discount, and RasGas has reportedly waived recovery of US$1 billion otherwise due from Petronet under the contract.[8] Other buyers have publicly announced their intention to utilize flexibility in their existing contracts to resell cargoes into the spot market or simply opt to procure more supplies from the spot market versus under long-term contracts.[9] If other buyers follow suit, this development could, at worst case, have a material adverse impact on financing for new LNG export projects, as lenders place more scrutiny on the risk of buyers not honoring the terms of the long-term, take-or-pay contracts underpinning the financing. Even where buyers simply use their contractual flexibility to divert cargoes into the spot market, such actions could mean more competition for projects and sellers that are looking to place excess cargoes.
3. What Deals Will Occur Due to Underutilized Export and Shipping Infrastructure and Unsold North American LNG Capacity / LNG?
Even before the U.S. LNG export projects are up and running, the early movers into the U.S. LNG industry have sold and/or are seeking to sell down their committed liquefaction service capacities or LNG volumes. Due to lowered demand at home, Gail offloaded some of its capacities and volumes from Cove Point and Sabine Pass (respectively).[10] Lower global LNG prices have also played a factor in U.S. LNG customers seeking to resell their capacity or volumes. Jera has noted that, given today’s prices, the volumes it contracted for at U.S.’s Freeport project may not be economical for delivery into Japan and accordingly Jera is looking to sell some of the LNG from Freeport to Europe.[11] LNG oversupply has also led to a drop in LNG shipping prices. In 2015, charter rates dropped to US$50,000 per day, from US$140,000 per day just a few years ago.[12]
The availability of capacity and shipping volumes in the secondary market could lead to a lower cost of entry into an industry traditionally dominated by a handful of players. In fact, some portfolio players from other commodities have been making the push into the LNG industry, and one result is the fast-growing emergence of the LNG spot market. Non-traditional LNG players such as Glencore, Vitol and Trafigura all recently joined the LNG trading foray[13], with Trafigura doubling its LNG trading volumes in one year alone.[14] Existing portfolio player Total is aiming to double its LNG trading volumes by 2020.[15] Along with the portfolio players, traditional LNG buyers, including the newly formed Jera of Japan, are seeking opportunities to participate in the LNG trading and spot markets. These developments could lead to an exponential growth of the LNG spot market in the coming years. According to one forecast, the spot market could comprise of 50% of the LNG total market by 2020, which would bring LNG closer to being traded as a true commodity.
4. Will M&A Opportunities Increase?
Two major proposed mergers/takeovers between LNG players were announced in 2015. The first, between Shell and BG, was approved by regulators in China, Australia, Brazil and the EU and looks to be completed in early 2016.[16] Once complete, the combined entity will control 32 MTPA of LNG production capacity and become one of the largest LNG producers in the world.[17] The other, Woodside’s bid to take over Oil Search (whose assets include a stake in the Papua New Guinea LNG project) was rejected by Oil Search and ended in December when Woodside withdrew its proposal.[18] Market observers view Woodside’s refusal to increase its offer price for Oil Search as an indication that oil prices have not yet bottomed.
Generally, it appears that offers to take over entire LNG companies have been rebuked. One exception may be Apache’s sale of its LNG stakes in the Wheatstone and Kitimat projects.[19] The sale was driven by activist shareholders.
Santos and Excelerate are two additional companies that have refused take-over offers.[20] However, it appears that companies may be more interested in strategic divestments of certain LNG assets, especially minority stakes in LNG projects, in order to raise capital and reduce debt. While Santos rejected a takeover offer, it did commit to sell its interest in a gas field after a broad asset sale review program.[21] Along with the merger with BG and the access to BG’s LNG positions at Sabine Pass and Lake Charles, Shell has sold off its stake in Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island project.[22] Similarly, Repsol is considering a sale of its 3.5% stake in Indonesia’s Tangguh LNG[23], and Kogas is looking to sell down another 5% of its 15% stake in LNG Canada.[24] Whether or not any these proposed divestments will materialize will be something to watch in 2016.
On the LNG buyers’ side, the trend is towards collaboration. The major example completed in 2015, of course, is the fuel procurement venture Jera, between Tepco and Chubu. This venture between the second and third (respectively) largest individual LNG buyers will create the largest LNG buyer in the world, with about 40 MTPA of annual demand once the two buyers’ contracts are consolidated next year.[25] Jera is active, having entered into LNG collaboration MOUs with Singapore’s Pavilion Gas, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, India’s Gail, South Korea’s Kogas and China’s CNOOC and CNPC.[26] Tokyo Gas has also entered into similar MOUs with Taiwan’s CPC and fellow Japanese utility Tohoku Electric.[27] These collaborations are, in part, aimed at further increasing the buyer’s leverage in LNG negotiations. It will be interesting to see how LNG buyers are able to leverage their collective positions in upcoming LNG contract negotiations with existing LNG sellers and prospective LNG sellers.
LNG shippers have also began joining forces to improve cost efficiencies. Golar LNG, Dynagas and GasLog Ltd announced a pooling agreement whereby they will contribute certain LNG ships to the pool for marketing in the spot market.[28] Sinotrans has also announced five joint ventures with Dynagas and China LNG Shipping to provide LNG ships for the Yamal LNG project.[29] Industry analysts are predicting more joint ventures and mergers in 2016 as the LNG shipping industry deals with a low charter rate environment.[30]
5. What will LNG Buyers Seek as They Continue to Seek Increased Supply Flexibility in Long-Term Contracts?
With the shift to an LNG buyers’ market, the buyers have sought out supply flexibility. In particular, all major buyers appear to be seeking the right to divert or resell cargoes without obtaining the LNG seller’s approval. 2015 also saw the emergence of pricing index variations, shorter contract terms and supply flexibility in terms of seasonality. Cheniere Marketing has taken the lead in exploring new pricing indices, as it inked sales contracts based on several European gas indices.[31] Tokyo Gas has noted that pricing index diversification is a priority as it seeks to procure another 2-3 MTPA for 2020.[32]
More and more buyers are asking for shorter contract terms as part of supply flexibility. Tokyo Gas has noted its preference for 5-10 year terms.[33] Similarly, Jera noted that it will be relying more on short and mid-term contracts to fulfill its LNG demand, notwithstanding that such shorter terms may not be adequate for LNG export projects’ financing requirements.
Last, the degree of seasonality extracted by PetroChina from Qatar may end up being a major concession.[34] Seasonality is desirable for LNG buyers who have historically looked to spot cargoes to manage seasonal fluctuations in demand. On the other hand, seasonal deliveries are hard to manage for LNG export projects that have to sell and perhaps transport full production throughout the year. While Qatar’s arrangement with PetroChina is limited to 2016, Qatar has not foreclosed the possibility that the arrangement may be extended in future years. Looking to 2016, which of these buyer-favorable terms or what new terms could buyers extract from sellers?
6. Where are the Sources of New LNG Demand?
The traditional prime Asian LNG buyers have all cut back their demand forecasts. With the optimistically predicted restart of numerous nuclear reactors in Japan and continuation of lower consumption levels, Japan predicts its LNG demand is decline – in one estimate, to 77 MTPA in 2020 as compared to 86 MTPA in 2014.[35] Kogas, the second largest LNG buyer in the world after Jera, has also revised its demand forecast downwards.[36] Likewise, demand growth for China has dampened with recently lowered forecasts – in one forecast, by 15% for the upcoming few years.[37]
Where can LNG export project developers look to for demand? Notwithstanding the decrease in forecasted demand growth for China, China (along with India) dominates the list of import terminals under construction and the Middle East dominates the list of floating import terminal placed into service this year.[38] According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China and the Middle East will be the big centers of overall gas (including LNG) demand by 2035.[39] The LNG import projects under development suggest that the next wave of LNG buyers will be smaller and new. For LNG export projects, the main challenge with such buyers will be credit or lack thereof. Can credit from these buyers be aggregated or synthesized to satisfy project lenders? On a longer term view, will the new Paris climate accord lead to increased demand for LNG as countries look for cleaner burning fuels to reduce their carbon footprints?
Some additional demand should be created by the following six additional floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) delivered or contracted in 2015:
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7. Will 25 MTPA of LNG production be restarted from Egypt, Angola and Yemen in 2016?
An unprecedented shut down in almost 25 MTPA of LNG production occurred in 2015 at four significant LNG export terminals. Will any of these plants restart in 2016, adding to the expected global LNG supply surplus?
First, Egypt’s gas shortage continues to plague both the Idku (7.2 MTPA) and Damietta (5.5 MTPA) export terminals. BG continues to declare force majeure for the Idku terminal[40], and the owners of the Damietta LNG plant are pursing arbitrations against the Egyptian Government for the LNG plant closure. While there were two recent major gas discoveries in offshore Egypt and BG has agreed to buy Noble’s stake in the Aphrodite field off Cyprus intending in part to supply the Idku terminal[41], these measures are unlikely to permit Egypt to restart LNG exports in the near term. Oddly, Egypt is now one of the emerging new LNG buyers. It has procured two floating regasification units to import LNG and is seeking to procure a third floating unit within the next year or two.[42]
Second, Angola LNG (5.2 MTPA), which was shut in 2014 for major rebuild, has yet to restart. Although Chevron hoped for a restart by the end of 2015[43], production has been delayed. Upon restart, the industry will be looking to see whether this project will overcome its past problems and achieve reliable production levels at its designed capacity.
Third, Yemen LNG (6.7 MTPA) has been shut in since April 2015 due to civil unrest in Yemen by Houthi rebels.[44] The government and the Houthi rebels began peace talks in December 2015.[45] Whether Yemen LNG can re-commence production will depend in large part on the outcome of those talks or subsequent talks.
It should be noted that other export facilities have also suffered unforeseen production curtailments. For example, in late December, force majeure was declared at Nigeria LNG due to “act of sabotage” on a pipeline to the terminal.[46] The force majeure event may affect deliveries to long-term buyers in Italy, Spain, Turkey, Portugal and France. How quickly will Nigeria LNG and other projects affected by unforeseen production curtailments recover?
8. Will Yamal LNG Attract Project Financing?
When completed in phases by 2021 at an expected cost of over $27 billion, Yamal LNG will be a 16.5 MTPA Russian LNG export project owned by Novatek, Total and China National Petroleum Corporation.[47] Once the first phase of the project is completed in 2018, the project will be the second LNG export project in Russia, planning to supply both Asian and European markets. While the project has secured long-term LNG buyers (including Shell, Engie and Gazprom M&T Singapore)[48], the project has been facing financing problems due to U.S. and EU economic sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in 2014.[49] Due to these sanctions, the project has sought more Chinese financing than originally intended. Based on latest reports, $20 billion of financing for the project is expected to include $12 billion from Chinese lenders and the remainder from Russian banks and export credit agencies.[50] As of the date of this article, the project is one step closer to achieving financing after Novatek signed binding agreements to sell a 9.9% equity stake to China’s Silk Road Fund in late December and the new China Insurance Investment Ltd pledged part of its first $6B fund towards funding for Yamal LNG in early January.[51] Will financing actually occur or will the shareholders be forced to balance sheet fund the project; if financing is not available will any of the planned three trains (each with 5.5 MTPA) be delayed or cancelled?
9. Will Project Costs Reduce?
We noted in our January 2015 article that one potential bright spot from the downturn in oil prices might be decreased construction and development costs in 2015.[52] While such decreased costs did not occur in 2015, the completion of three projects this year, and increased contractor competition resulting from the scarcity of new export project FIDs, may yet help in reducing overall project
costs.[53]
However, labor costs in particular are region-specific and thus whether labor cost decreases will materialize may vary. By one analysis, the number of projects under construction in the U.S. gulf coast has put pressure on labor costs. In contrast, low oil prices have led to a decline in oil sand investments in western Canada, which has a higher potential of seeing lower labor costs. Woodfibre LNG is one project that believes it can take advantage of lowered labor costs to cut construction costs.
In this competitive climate, LNG export projects may look to other ways to lower costs and attract customers. This may come by way of changes in project design or technology. Magnolia LNG has credited its selection of alternative technology and innovative revenue sharing terms with its EPC contractor for its competitive costs - $500/metric ton of LNG production as compared to an average of $800-900/ metric ton for other U.S. projects.[54] Similarly, the costs at Lake Charles LNG are estimated at $512/tonne, which could yield a liquefaction toll cost of less than $2 per MMBTU and a delivered price of $6.50 per MMBTU into Asia.[55] Likewise, the Fortuna LNG project in Equatorial Guinea has reportedly cut capital costs from $800MM to $600MM and procured an HOA with a customer willing to prepay for LNG in the early years of production.[56] Will any other projects under development be able to follow suit?
10. Will Regional Small-Scale LNG Trade Develop Further?
The lowered cost and shortened development period for floating LNG regasification units (FLRUs) have facilitated the entrance of smaller LNG users into the industry. In the western hemisphere, FLRUs are planned for Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. And others are seeing opportunities to develop an LNG trade in the western hemisphere. Eagle LNG and Waller Point are just two such companies developing small- to mid-scale LNG export projects to service regional LNG demand. Cheniere appears to be preparing for the increase in demand in small-scale LNG as it requests to add to its Sabine Pass terminal facilities to load LNG into LNG-fueled vessels and handle containerized LNG.[57] AES is seeking to capitalize on its existing onshore LNG terminal in the Dominican Republic to provide LNG transshipment and bunkering services for the Caribbean and Latin American markets.[58]
Beyond the western hemisphere, the potential for small-scale LNG has been recognized by Singapore’s Pavilion Energy. The company points to the fact that 65% of all contracts signed within the past five years are for quantities of less than one MTPA as signs of the potential growth in this area.[59] And the company views the many small islands of Southeast Asia as a great fit for small-scale LNG solutions and is in talks with several parties regarding collaboration in this area. While the scale of these projects are not likely to affect the high-quantity contracts necessary to support the development of mega LNG export projects, the growth of these small-scale projects may further support the growth of the spot market.
Conclusion
In January 2009 we noted that “since 2000 the LNG industry has witnessed … a buyer’s market for LNG supplies and a shortage of import terminal capacity in North America and Europe …a then a very strong seller’s market which drove Asian prices to all-time highs and left many would-be players in the market with little LNG and some LNG import terminals with little, if any, inventory.”[60] As 2016 begins with low prices and a growing oversupplied market, some may conclude that such industry cycles are now behind us and predict a perpetual buyer’s market - for 2016 and years to come. However, given that the global LNG industry is now the most valuable physical “commodity” after crude oil and is still expanding, the global industry’s sheer size and unprecedented complexity make long-range predictions risky. No doubt 2016 will require industry leaders to anticipate and address challenges which the above-mentioned “top issues” (and other issues not yet presented) create. Many of these challenges will be long-term in nature and inter-related with a multitude of issues throughout the global LNG value chain.
[1] Cheniere Reaches FID for Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project, Oil & Gas Journal, May 14, 2015; Cheniere Makes FID on Sabine Pass Expansion, Argus, Jul. 1, 2015; and North West Shelf Makes FID on GWF-2, Interfax Global Energy, Dec. 11. 2015.
[2] Pacific NorthWest LNG Announces Final Investment Decision, Jun. 11, 2015, available at http://www.progressenergy.com/media-centre/news/.
[3] Jason Proctor, Landmark LNG Agreement Under Fire in Lawsuit, CBC News, Nov. 23, 2015; and Brent Jang, Wait for Assessment, B.C. Deputy Premier tells LNG Terminal Critics, The Globe and Mail, Nov. 15, 2015.
[4] Angela Macdonald-Smith, Shell shelves Arrow LNG project in Queensland, The Sydney Morning Herald, Jan. 30, 2015; and Oleg Vukmanovic, Gazprom Trading Arm Cancels Deal to Buy LNG from Colombia, Reuters, Dec. 2, 2015.
[5] Geoffrey Morgan, Veresen’s US$6-billion Jordan Cove LNG Project Won’t be Sanctioned Until Late 2016, Financial Post, Dec. 7, 2015; Jim Magill, Magnolia LNG Signs Contract To Build Lake Charles, Louisiana, Project, Platts, Nov. 17, 2015; Pieridae Energy Limited Reaches Project Milestones, Dec. 17, 2015, available at http://pieridaeenergy.com/news; Andrew England, Anadarko Petroleum to Take Africa Decision in 2016, Financial Times, Dec. 7, 2015; and Leigh Elston, BP Named as Buyer for Eni’s FLNG in Mozambique, Interfax Global Energy, Oct. 9, 2015.
[6] Oleg Vukmanovic, Qatar and PetroChina Alter LNG Supply Deal, Winter Spot Price Fallout, Reuters, Aug. 26, 2015. Note that Cheniere’s LNG SPA with Total from Sabine Pass also provides for a seasonal tranche quantity.
[7] Qatar to Waive $1 Billion Penalty on India for Lower Gas Offtake, The Financial Express, Nov. 23, 2015.
[8] Mayank Bhardwaj, India's Energy Muscle Helps Petronet get Better Qatar Gas Deal, Reuters, Dec. 31, 2015.
[9] Abache Abreu and Stephanie Wilson, China's Sinopec Awaits Approval To Sell LNG from Australia's APLNG, Platts, Apr. 24, 2015; and Jera to Cut Back on Long-Term LNG Deals, LNG World News, Oct. 21, 2015.
[10] M.C. Vaijayanthi, India's Gail Sells Another 1 Million Mt/Year From US LNG Contracts, Platts, Jul. 16, 2015.
[11] Eriko Amaha, Interview: Jera Eyes Selling US Freeport LNG Volume To Europe as Alternative to Japan, Platts, May 28, 2015.
[12] James Paton and Chou Hui Hong, LNG Shipping Rates Fall to Lowest Since 2010 in Boon for Traders, Bloomberg Business, Feb. 19, 2015.
[13] Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Glencore Vies with Trafigura, Vitol in Thawing LNG Market, Reuters, Sep. 17, 2015.
[14] Anna Shiryaevskaya, Trafigura LNG Trading More Than Doubles on New Buyer Demand, Bloomberg Business, Dec. 14, 2015.
[15] Abache Abreu, Total Outlines LNG Ambitions, Platts International Gas Report, Nov. 2, 2015.
[16] Ron Bousso, Shell Sees More Job Cuts as BG Deal Gets China Green Light, Reuters, Dec. 14, 2015.
[17] Christopher Helman, Shell, With $70B Deal For BG Group, Becomes World LNG Giant, Forbes, Apr. 8, 2015.
[18] Robb M. Stewart, Australia’s Woodside Abandons $8.4 Billion Bid to Take Over Oil Search, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 7, 2015.
[19] Angela Macdonald-Smith, Woodside Petroleum Closes $US2.8b Purchase of Apache Australia Assets, The Sydney Morning Herald, Apr. 3, 2015.
[20] E.g., Robb M. Stewart, Australia’s Santos Snubs ‘Opportunistic’ Takeover Offer, The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 22, 2015; and Oleg Vukmanovic and Sarah McFarlen, Excelerate Energy got Takeover Offer in November, No Sale Imminent-CEO, Reuters, Dec. 2, 2015.
[21] Prashant Mehra, Santos Settles for Share Sales, New CEO, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 9, 2015.
[22] Shell to Sell its Equity Interest in the Elba LNG Joint Venture to Kinder Morgan, Jul. 15, 2015, available at http://www.shell.com/media/news-and-media-releases/2015.html.
[23] Manuel Baigorri and Dinesh Nair, Repsol Said to Mull Sale of Stake in BP's Indonesian Gas Project, Bloomberg Business, Dec. 8, 2015.
[24] Charles Lee, S. Korea Secures 23.5 Mil Mt In 2027 LNG Term Deals, 62% Of Expected Demand, Platts, Oct. 7, 2015.
[25] Osamu Tsukimori and Yuka Obayashi, Japan's Jera Says Will Significantly Cut Long-Term LNG Contracts, Reuters, Oct. 21, 2015.
[26] Conclusion of MOU between JERA and Pavilion Gas on Joint LNG Collaboration, Oct. 27, 2015, available at http://www.jera.co.jp/english/index.html; and Singapore’s Pavilion Energy Signs Deals, Platts International Gas Report, Nov. 2, 2015.
[27] Tokyo Gas Signs Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Collaboration with CPC Corporation, Taiwan, Aug. 13, 2015, available at http://www.tokyo-gas.co.jp/index_e.html; and Eriko Amaha, Japan Tokyo Gas, Tohoku Electric Joint Forces to Offer Power in Kanto Koshin, Platts, Jul. 30, 2015.
[28] Keith Wallis, LNG Shippers Brace for Wave of Consolidation as Freight Rates Sink, Reuters, Dec. 20, 2015.
[29] Lee Hong Liang, Sinotrans Seals Joint Venture Deals for Five Arctic LNG Carriers, Seatrade Maritime News, Dec. 22, 2015.
[30] See footnote 28.
[31] Cheniere Marketing’s contract with Engie is based on Northern European indices, and its contract with EDF is based on the Dutch Title Transfer Index. See Cheniere news releases at http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=101667&p=irol-news&nyo=0.
[32] Abache Abreu and Eriko Amaha, Tokyo Gas Seeks More LNG, Platts International Gas Report, Nov. 2, 2015.
[33] Id.
[34] See footnote 6.
[35] Eriko Amaha, Japan LNG Demand Expected to Fall by 2020 on Nuclear Restarts, Renewables, Platts, Dec. 15, 2015.
[36] See footnote 24.
[37] Brian Spegelee, China’s Slowing Demand Burns Gas Giants, The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 5, 2015.
[38] See Appendix IV for a list of LNG receiving terminals under construction with estimated completion in 2016, 2015 IGU World LNG Report, available at http://www.igu.org/sites/default/files/node-page-field_file/IGU-World LNG Report-2015 Edition.pdf; and Philip Weems, Nick Kouvaritakis and Richard Nelson, FSRUs: Looking Back at the Evolution of the FSRU Market, Dec. 9, 2015, available at http://www.energylawexchange.com/.
[39] China, Middle East to be New Gas-Guzzlers by 2035, Bloomberg, Nov. 12, 2015.
[40] Sherif Elhelwa and Tamsin Carlisle, Eni Strikes 30 Tcf Gas Giant Offshore Egypt In Biggest Mediterranean Find, Platts, Sep. 1, 2015; and Simone Tagliapietra and Georg Zachmann, Egypt Holds The Key To The Eastern Mediterranean's Gas Future, Forbes, Nov. 29, 2015.
[41] Michele Kambas, Britain’s BG Group pays $165 mln for Stake in Cyprus Gas Field, Reuters, Nov. 23, 2015.
[42] Egypt to Charter Third FSRU Late Next Year, LNG World News, Oct. 26, 2015.
[43] Angola LNG on Track to Restart in 2015: Chevron, Argus, Jul. 31, 2015.
[44] Aaron Clark and Chou Hui Hong, Yemen’s LNG Plant Halts Supply as Fighting Worsens Security, Bloomberg, Apr. 13, 2015.
[45] Nick Cumming-Bruce, Yemen’s Government and Houthi Rebels to Start Peace Talks, The New York Times, Dec. 7, 2015.
[46] Libby George, Eni Declared Force Majeure on Nigeria's LNG Export Plant Loadings, Reuters, Dec. 21, 2015.
[47] See http://www.total.com/en/energy-expertise/projects/oil-gas/lng/yamal-lng-cold-environment-gas.
[48] Id. (According to Total’s project webpage, the project has “already sold all LNG production to European and Asian customers through 15- to 20-year contracts”). See also, Engie and Novatek Sign LNG SPA from Yamal, Jun. 2, 2015, available at http://www.giignl.org/news/engie-and-novatek-sign-lng-spa-yamal; and Michel Rose, Russia's Yamal LNG in Flurry of Sale Deals Ahead of Financing, Reuters, Jun. 4, 2015.
[49] Tim Daiss, U.S.-Led Sanctions Squeeze Massive Russian Gas Project, But Chinese Funds May Hold The Answer, Fortune, Nov. 18, 2015.
[50] Yamal LNG's Bond Issuance is Credit Positive for Novatek as Opens Door to External Funding, Nov. 25, 2015, available at https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-Yamal-LNGs-bond-issuance-is-credit-positive-for-Novatek--PR_339893.
[51] Shu Zhang and Matthew Miller, China Insurance Fund to Invest in Russia’s Yamal LNG, Reuters, Jan. 5, 2016.
[52] Lower Canadian Costs Offer Competitiveness with U.S. LNG, Wood Mac Says, May 1, 2015, available at http://www.worldoil.com/news/2015/5/1/lower-canadian-costs-offer-competitiveness-with-us-lng-wood-mac-says.
[53] Gordon Hoekstra, Woodfibre LNG Seeks to Cut Construction Costs to Offset Gas-Price Drop in China, Vancouver Sun, Dec. 13, 2015.
[54] Jim Magill, Magnolia LNG Signs Contract To Build Lake Charles, Louisiana, Project, Platts, Nov. 17, 2015; and Magnolia LNG Executed EPC Contract with KBR-SK JV, Nov. 16, 2015, available at http://www.lnglimited.com.au/IRM/PDF/3629/MagnoliaLNGExecutesEPCContractwithKBRSKUJV.
[55] Allison Good, Barclays: Lake Charles Positioned as Lowest-Cost US LNG Export Project, SNL Financial, Nov. 19, 2015.
[56] Elaine Maslin, Ophir Inks Fortuna LNG Deal, Reduces Cost, Dec. 9, 2015, available at http://www.oedigital.com/subsea/item/11074-ophir-inks-fortuna-lng-deal-reduces-cost.
[57] Joe Fisher, Sabine Pass Seeks to Add Containerized LNG Capabilities, Natural Gas Intelligence, Dec. 3, 2015.
[58] AES Dominicana Launches Major Natural Gas Projects for the Region, Dominican Today, Aug. 12, 2015.
[59] Jacqueline Woo, Home-Grown LNG Player Eyeing Small Regional Projects, The Straits Times, Sep. 10, 2015.
[60] See Philip Weems, “Challenges Facing the LNG Industry in 2009”, Guide to the World’s Leading Energy and Natural Resource Lawyers, Legal Media Group, 2009
