Over the weekend, Woodside and Sempra Energy signed a framework agreement for key aspects of the Port Arthur LNG project, including engineering and construction works, operations and maintenance activities, feed gas sourcing and offtake of LNG for sales to Kogas.

 

Kogas may also secure equity in the Port Arthur development.

 

"Woodside is delighted to further our long-term relationship with Kogas, one of the LNG industry's leading buyers and investors," Woodside executive vice president of marketing, trading and shipping Reinhardt Matisons said.

 

"We look forward to working with Kogas and other potential buyers to advance the Port Arthur LNG project."   

 

Sempra and Woodside have been working on the Port Arthur project for the past 18 months, envisaging a two train development on the Gulf of Mexico coast.

 

Sempra executives last year estimated the cost of the Port Arthur facility at $8-9 billion, with the project up and running by 2021 or 2022.

 

Kogas' entry into the project is just one further move to support the development, which is still some distance from a final investment decision.

 

"Kogas' expertise and knowledge of the LNG market will complement Sempra's and Woodside's extensive natural gas infrastructure development and combined marketing and operational experience to continue advancing the Port Arthur LNG project," Sempra LNG & Midstream vice president Octavio Simoes said.

 

Kogas' move into Texas came amid a flurry of deals with proposed projects in Alaska with the Alaska Gasline Development Corp and Energy Transfer Equity and Shell at Louisiana last week.

 

Privately-owned South Korean conglomerate SK Group, which owns a share in the recently-appraised Barossa-Caldita gas field, also signed an agreement with GE and Continental Resources to pursue shale gas developments in the US.

 

Continental, run by US President Donald Trump's energy adviser, Harold Hamm, is looking to further develop the Woodford Shale with SK's help. 

 

South Korea is already one of the world's biggest importers of LNG and has bought eight cargoes of gas from Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. 

 

The nation is looking to transition away from coal and nuclear power in favour of gas in its power systems. 

 

Kogas is the world's second largest LNG buyer, while Woodside supplies 8% of global LNG trade from Australia.

 

Woodside also has two LNG development projects in Canada, and sale and purchase agreement in Cheniere's Corpus Christie LNG development.

 

Sempra is already involved in the $10 billion three-train Cameron LNG project, which is under construction, and is considering expanding its LNG Costa Azul import facility outside Ensenda, Mexico — called— to include export capabilities

 

 

In Australia, Woodside is still working to restart production on some processing trains at the Karratha Gas Plant after an unplanned outage impacted trains 2, 3 and 5.

 

Train 5 had resumed output already while trains 2 and 3 were in the process of being restarted.

 

The plant was held up mid-April because of another outage caused by an electrical fault. It took almost two weeks to restore full LNG production.