Venture Global LNG said on Sunday it would acquire a fleet of nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport vessels, expanding its ability to sell and ship its own cargoes.
Venture Global LNG has exported hundreds of cargoes since it started liquefying gas for export in 2022 from the first of its three planned facilities in Louisiana. The vessels it used were owned by other companies and leased.
The nine vessels in Venture Global's future fleet will be built in South Korea with the first to be delivered later this year, the Arlington, Virginia-based company said.
The company has shipped more than 250 cargoes under its own account from the first plant, called Calcasieu Pass, sparking complaints from big-name energy companies holding long-term contracts that the sales should have been made available to them.
Venture Global LNG says despite the shipments the Calcasieu Pass plant has yet to start full commercial operations due to equipment malfunctions. Its contracts allow it to decide when the plant is fully operational.
The company hopes to complete the commissioning of the plant by the end of the year, CEO Mike Sabel told reporters gathered at Venture Global's Houston offices on Sunday. Repairs were going well, he said.
The plant does not have redundant power systems and the potential for outages has kept it from moving to commercial operation, he said.
But customers, including bp, Shell, Edison, Repsol, Galp Energia, Unipec and Orlen, say they have lost billions of dollars in revenue. They have initiated arbitration proceedings against Venture Global LNG and have pressed federal regulators to allow them to view confidential documents on the plant's startup.
The fleet, along with a deal Venture Global has for the long-term use of an import terminal to regasify its cargoes in Europe, would give the company a bigger role in the global supply chain for its LNG, the company said.
Its second Louisiana plant is due to start producing LNG later this year and be able to provide 20 million tons per annum (mtpa), much of which the company has already sold through 20-year sales and purchase agreements.
Shell on Sunday declined to comment on Venture Global's latest move to bolster its sales. Shell previously said Venture Global's sales of Calcasieu plant LNG cargoes without providing them to contract customers was deceitful.
Spanish energy giant Repsol, another customer with a contract for Calcasieu Pass supplies, has asked U.S. regulators to review the plant's commissioning process.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Simon Webb, Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)
