While deal activity was slightly more muted than the week before, there some worth flagging.
At the top of the list is CenterPoint’s agreement to sell off its natural gas assets for USD 1.2 billion. The assets include around 12,000 miles of main pipeline in Louisiana and Mississippi serving ~380,000 metered customers. The deal is expected to close towards the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Further afield, questions loom over ADNOC’s talks over a USD 30 billion merger with Austria’s OMV. Currently the groups have gone “pencils down”, a person close to the matter said this week.
Here's a look at the deals that made news this week.
CenterPoint to sell gas distribution assets in Louisiana and Mississippi for $1.2bn
US power and gas utility CenterPoint Energy has agreed to sell its Louisiana and Mississippi natural gas distribution assets to private equity firm Bernhard Capital Partners for USD 1.2 billion, the companies said on Tuesday.
The assets include around 12,000 miles of main pipeline in Louisiana and Mississippi serving ~380,000 metered customers.
The deal is expected to close towards the end of the first quarter of 2025.
ADNOC plans merger with Austria’s OMV
Talks over a planned $30bn merger between the chemicals arms of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Austria’s OMV have stalled over recent weeks, putting at risk a complicated deal to create a new market leader. The negotiations have cooled to allow both sides to navigate a series of disagreements, according to three people familiar with the matter. Currently the groups have gone “pencils down”, one person said.
Israel’s Tamar field partners reach FID on output expansion to 16 Bcm/year
The partners in the Tamar natural gas field offshore Israel have reached a final investment decision (FID) on a project that will expand production capacity by about 60% from 10 Bcm/year currently to 16 Bcm/year by the middle of next year.
In August 2023, the Israeli government granted approval to increase natural gas exports from Tamar to Egypt, subject to a 60% increase in Tamar’s production capacity.
Equinor to supply India’s Deepak with 0.65 mtpa of LNG for ammonia production
Equinor and Indian fertiliser and petrochemical company Deepak Fertilisers have signed a 15-year agreement for 0.65 mtpa of LNG supplies with deliveries starting in 2026, Equinor said on Monday.
Deepak will use the gas mainly as feedstock for production of ammonia at its newly commissioned plant in Taloja, in the state of Maharashtra, for manufacturing fertilisers and petrochemicals, according to the statement.
Angus Energy enters into MoU regarding Saltfleetby gas storage
AIM-listed Angus Energy has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a subsidiary of Trafigura Group with regard to gas storage at the Company's Saltfleetby Gas Field in Linconlnshire - volumetrically the UK's largest onshore gas field and its largest potential subsurface porous rock storage reservoir.
The Trafigura group is one of the world's leading international commodity traders engaging in the trading of physical commodities including oil, gas, minerals and metals, as well as renewable energy generation and clean energy technologies.
ASCO secures major contract with BP for its Trinidad and Tobago operations
Leading material management and logistics provider ASCO has secured a five-year contract with bp Trinidad and Tobago (BPTT).
Under the contract, which came into effect at the start of the year, ASCO will provide supply base and pipeyard management services for the Operator across all 16 offshore locations in Trinidad.
BPTT has operated in Trinidad and Tobago since 1961, and is the country’s largest hydrocarbon producer, accounting for more than half of the nation’s gas production.
EnergyPathways signs MoU for its wholly owned and operated Marram field project in the UK Irish Sea
AIM-listed EnergyPathways, an integrated energy transition company delivering lower emission energy solutions which offer energy security to the UK, has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding ('MoU') with MCS Subsea Solutions and Mermaid Subsea Services (UK) in relation to negotiating the provision of subsea FEED engineering, project support, procurement and offshore construction services for its wholly owned and operated Marram field project in the UK Irish Sea.
Airbus and TotalEnergies enter into a strategic partnership
Airbus and TotalEnergies have signed a strategic partnership to meet the challenges of decarbonizing the aviation sector using sustainable aviation fuels.
In line with the ambition of net carbon neutrality in air transport by 2050, this partnership aims to contribute to the reduction of CO 2 emissions from the sector, in which sustainable aviation fuels (also called “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” or SAF ) play an essential role. The SAFs supplied by TotalEnergies make it possible to reduce CO 2 emissions by up to 90% over the entire life cycle, compared to their fossil equivalent.
RWE secures the highest number of onshore wind projects at French regulation latest bidding round
The French CRE (Commission for the Regulation of Energy) has published the results for the latest onshore wind bidding round (AO 14), for a selected capacity of 1007 MW at an average price of 87.23 euros/MWh.
RWE has emerged as one of the main recipients, securing contracts for 8 projects with a combined capacity of 108.7 MW. This achievement positions the group as the foremost company in terms of the number of awarded projects and the second-largest developer in terms of the awarded capacity. This latest success confirms RWE's strategy, which was already one of the most awarded operators in 2023.
RWE to supply seven German companies with green power from Kaskasi wind farm from 2026
RWE's Kaskasi offshore wind farm will supply seven major German industrial customers with green electricity from 2026. Corresponding Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) have been signed between RWE Supply & Trading and DHL Group, Ensinger, Evonik, Infraserv Höchst, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Vodafone; a first PPA from Kaskasi has already been signed with the retail divisions of the Schwarz Group (Lidl, Kaufland) in spring 2023.
Kistos acquires UK onshore gas storage assets from EDF Energy
Kistos, the low carbon intensity hydrocarbon producer pursuing a strategy to acquire assets with a role in energy transition, has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement ('SPA') to acquire EDF Energy (Gas Storage) from EDF Energy (Thermal Generation) which owns two gas storage facilities onshore UK, Hill Top Farm and Hole House Farm. The total consideration for the Transaction is GBP 25 million.
The Transaction is in line with Kistos' acquisition strategy to pursue opportunities that align with the energy transition. Kistos' entry into the gas storage sector provides business diversity to its upstream portfolio within a stable marketplace that offers significant growth potential. Kistos will assume operatorship of both sites and will put in place an agreement to work alongside a partner to trade the gas.
Veolia buys gas-fired power plant in Hungary from RWE
Veolia, via its Hungarian subsidiary, has signed an agreement with Uniper for the acquisition of a power plant with an installed capacity of around 430 megawatts. Located in Gönyű, in north-west Hungary, the gas-fired combined-cycle power plant is the most modern and efficient in the country, said Veolia. With this operation, Veolia continues to expand its portfolio, which now represents a volume of 2.4 gigawatts of managed flexible electrical energy.
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EIG's MidOcean Energy builds out gas portfolio with 20% Peru LNG stake
https://www.gasstrategies.com/information-services/gas-matters-today/eig...
EIG subsidiary MidOcean Energy has agreed a deal to acquire a 20% interest in Peru LNG (PLNG) from current owners SK Earthon.
Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed by either party.
PLNG owns and operates the first LNG export plant in South America, located in Pampa Melchorita, 170km south of Lima, Peru.
The project’s assets include a natural gas liquefaction plant with 4.45 mtpa processing capacity as well as a fully owned 408 km-long pipeline with 1,290 MMcf/d capacity and two 130,000 m3 (4,5 Mmcf) storage tanks.
Santos-Woodside merger talks called off on lack of ‘combination benefits’
https://www.gasstrategies.com/information-services/gas-matters-today/san...
Australian gas heavyweights Santos and Woodside confirmed Wednesday they had called off talks on a potential USD 52 billion merger, despite protracted discussions and information exchange between the two parties since late last year.
In an announcement, Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said the Perth-headquartered LNG supplier had conducted thorough due diligence on a potential deal, but would only pursue a transaction that was “value accretive” for its shareholders.
Exclusive: Shale producer Devon Energy in bid to acquire Enerplus -sources
U.S. oil and gas producer Devon Energy has approached Enerplus, a peer with a market value of C$4 billion ($3 billion), with an acquisition offer, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shale-producer-devon-energy-bid-...
Australia’s Woodside Is in Talks With Energy Transfer for US LNG Supplies
Australia’s Woodside Energy Group Ltd. is in talks to buy liquefied natural gas from several US export terminals, including Energy Transfer LP’s Lake Charles project in Louisiana, according to people familiar with the matter.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-08/australia-s-woodside-...
Centrica and Repsol strike LNG deal
https://www.centrica.com/media-centre/news/2024/energy-security-boost-af...
CoolCo seals new 12-month LNG carrier charter deal
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/coolco-seals-new-12-month-lng-carrier-ch...
QATARENERGY, PETRONET SIGN 20-YEAR AGREEMENT TO SUPPLY 7.5 MTPA OF LNG TO INDIA
https://www.qatarenergy.qa/en/MediaCenter/Pages/newsdetails.aspx?ItemId=...
DOHA, Qatar • 6 February 2024 – QatarEnergy announced that it has entered into a 20-year LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Petronet LNG Limited for the supply of 7.5 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG destined to the Republic of India.
Pursuant the terms of the SPA, the contracted LNG volumes from Qatar will be delivered ex-ship to terminals across India onboard QatarEnergy’s vast LNG fleet starting May 2028.
The signing of the SPA was celebrated during a special ceremony held in Goa, India under the patronage of His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, and His Excellency Hardeep Singh Puri, the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, and Housing & Urban Affairs in the Republic of India.
Algeria's Sonatrach to supply Germany with pipeline gas for first time
Germany will receive its first supplies of pipeline natural gas from Algeria under a medium-term contract signed between a subsidiary of trader VNG AG and state-owned oil and gas firm Sonatrach, the companies said on Thursday.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/algerias-sonatrach-supply-german...
Vital Energy Closes Second Transaction to Acquire Additional Working Interests Related to Recent Permian Basin Acquisition
https://investor.vitalenergy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/vita...
Petronet LNG to supply gas to Sri Lanka
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/petronet-lng-to-supply-ga...
Energy security boost after Centrica and Repsol agree LNG supply deal
Centrica Energy and Repsol today announced the signing of a deal that will improve the UK’s energy security in the coming years. The deal will see Centrica purchase 1 million tonnes of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) shipments between 2025 and 2027. All of these cargoes are expected to be delivered to the Grain LNG import terminal in Kent.
https://www.centrica.com/media-centre/news/2024/energy-security-boost-af...
Cryopeak LNG Solutions Corp. and Ferus Natural Gas Fuels announce strategic merger
https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/06022024/cryopeak-lng-sol...
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