EurOil: Poland expands US LNG supplies

Polish gas firm PGNiG has finalised a deal to buy an extra 2mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG from US developer Venture Global, the companies announced on September 2.

The deal covers supplies for 20 years, and raises PGNiG’s total purchases to 5.5mn tpy, or 7.4bn cubic metres of regasified volumes. PGNiG will increase shipments from the Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana from 1.0 to 1.5mn tpy. Venture Global took a final investment decision (FID) on the project in August 2019 and construction is underway. It is set to begin exports next year.

PGNiG has also increased supplies from the 10mn tpy Plaquemines LNG terminal, also situated in Louisiana, to 4.0 from 2.5mn tpy. Construction is anticipated to begin later this year ahead of the facility’s launch in 2023. The terminal will have an initial capacity of 10mn tpy, which could be upscaled to 20mn tpy at a later stage.

Over in the UK, Ithaca Energy has reported the country’s first oil discovery of the year at the Fotla prospect. Ithaca’s parent company Delek estimates the discovery, some 11 km from the Alba Northern platform, to hold 21mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in best-estimate recoverable resources. The low-case scenario places the find’s size at only 10mn barrels, but it could be as much as 41mn barrels in a high-case scenario.

In light of the result, Ithaca said it had decided to “sidetrack to an appraisal location to delineate the discovery.” The company has a 60% interest in the prospect, while Spirit Energy has 40%.

The UK’s exploration sector was hit harder than operations in neighbouring Norway because of its higher costs and a less supportive tax regime. In a note on September 1, Edinburgh-based Wood Mackenzie said Ithaca’s discovery was “a ray of light in what’s been a tough year for UK exploration activity, with 2021 on track for the fewest number of completed wells since the 1960s.”

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