US LNG exporter Venture Global LNG and Italian energy firm Edison, a unit of EDF, signed a commercial agreement to settle the pending arbitration over LNG sales from the Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana. As part of the settlement, Edison and Venture Global have also agreed to deliver additional LNG cargoes to Europe.
Venture Global announced on Thursday that completion of the settlement is expected by the end of the second quarter of 2026, at which point the arbitration will be terminated.
The agreement fully resolves the arbitration in its entirety, it said.
As part of the settlement, Edison and Venture Global have also agreed to the delivery to Europe of additional cargoes beyond those envisaged under the long-term contract, to support gas supplies primarily to the Italian market.
Venture Global said the first delivery is scheduled for May at Italy’s Adriatic LNG import terminal, owned by VTTI and Snam.
“Significant step”
“The agreement represents a significant step in strengthening commercial cooperation between the parties and it establishes a foundation for further future deliveries in the context of the disruption caused by ongoing geopolitical event,” Venture Global said.
“Both parties welcome this agreement, as it further consolidates long‑term deliveries and enhances the commercial partnership between Venture Global and Edison which is an important foundational customer of the Calcasieu Pass project,” it said.
Back in 2017, Edison agreed to buy 1 million metric tons per annum of LNG for a period of 20 years from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
Calcasieu Pass produced its first LNG on January 19, 2022, moving from FID to LNG production in 29 months, while the first commissioning cargo left the facility on March 1, 2022.
In April last year, Venture Global launched commercial operations at its Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal, some 68 months from its final investment decision and 38 months after production start.
Other customers
Besides Edison, other Calcasieu Pass offtakers are also in dispute with Venture Global over LNG sales from the Calcasieu Pass terminal.
Venture Global said recently in its annual report that UK-based energy giant BP is seeking between $3.7 billion and potentially in excess of $6 billion in damages in an arbitration case over LNG sales from the Calcasieu Pass plant.
To date, BP is the only Calcasieu Pass customer that won its arbitration case against Venture Global over the commercial launch of the Calcasieu Pass facility.
The New York Supreme Court recently rejected Shell’s appeal in its arbitration case against Venture Global, while Venture Global also won an arbitration case against Spanish energy firm Repsol.
Venture Global also settled its dispute with China’s Unipec, a unit of Sinopec.
Other Calcasieu Pass customers include Galp, PGNiG, now part of Orlen, and CNOOC.
