2019 Rewind: Year of FIDs

The year 2019 got into its stride quickly in terms of final investment decisions as LNG Croatia, the state-owned company has sanctioned the construction of the floating liquefied natural gas terminal on the Island of Krk in February. 

The project is backed by €101.4 million from the European Union as well as €100 million from the Croatian government.

The remaining part of the required capital expenditures in the amount of €32.2 million will be provided by the shareholders of LNG Croatia through an increase in equity.

Also in February, LNG giant Qatar Petroleum and US energy juggernaut ExxonMobil have taken the final investment decision for developing the $10 billion Golden Pass LNG export project, which is located in Sabine Pass, Texas.

The final investment decision paves the way for the construction of the Golden Pass LNG export facility, which will have a production capacity of about 16 million tons of LNG per year.

Before it got acquired by Occidental Petroleum in a $55 billion deal, Anadarko Petroleum and its co-venturers in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 1 have reached the final investment decision (FID) on Area 1 Mozambique LNG project in June.

The Anadarko-led Area 1 Mozambique LNG project will be Mozambique’s first onshore LNG development, initially consisting of two LNG trains with a total nameplate capacity of 12.88 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to support the development of the Golfinho/Atum fields located entirely within Offshore Area 1.

In August, U.S. LNG export project developer Venture Global LNG has made a final investment decision (FID) and closed the financing for its Calcasieu Pass LNG facility and associated TransCameron pipeline.

The project that will have a production capacity of 10 mtpa, has 20-year LNG sale and purchase agreements with Shell, BP, Edison, Galp, Repsol, and PGNiG.

In September, Arctic LNG 2 partners headed by the Russian largest independent natural gas producer Novatek have reached the final investment decision on the $21.3 billion project on the Gydan Peninsula. 

The project consists of the development of the Utrenneye field and the construction of a natural gas liquefaction plant in the Russian Arctic region.

The LNG plant will consist of three liquefaction trains on gravity-based structures (GBS) with an overall production capacity of 19.8 million tons per annum. The launch of LNG train 1 is scheduled for 2023, with LNG trains 2 and 3 to be launched in 2024 and 2026, respectively.

While it is not a completely new export project, Nigeria LNG closed off the year 2019 with the final investment decision for its Train 7 project, which will increase the NLNG facility’s production capacity by 35 percent.

This decision allows the expansion to increase the capacity of NLNG’s six-train plant from 22 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 30 mtpa.

The construction period after FID will last approximately five years with the first LNG rundown expected in 2024.

LNG World News Staff