North American LNG export contracts approach 50mn t/yr

Shell and Centrica deals latest in post-Ukraine invasion SPA boom for liquefaction projects

UK-headquartered major Shell has inked a 20-year 2.1mn t/yr sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with US exporter Energy Transfer. This marks only the third such deal in August in what has been a slight summer lull in the scramble to secure alternative gas supply due to fears that Russian volumes will be frozen out of the global market for a prolonged period. But the deal, as well as UK utility Centrica’s 1mn t/yr contract with developer Delfin LNG, takes agreements struck for North American supply tantalisingly close to the 50mn t/yr mark (see Fig.1). Shell’s deal is on a Fob basis with a purchase price indexed to the US Henry Hub benchmark plus a fixed liquefaction charge. First deliveries a