NO. 1: Golden Pass LNG’s timeline for starting production could slip further into 2025. A shortage of skilled workers and other construction issues are reportedly causing delays.
Market speculation about the project has grown this week as traders continue to watch U.S. export projects along the Gulf Coast for signs of new demand later this year and next as prices trend below $2/MMBtu.
The 2.4 Bcf/d Golden Pass project in Texas is a joint venture of QatarEnergy, which owns 70%, and ExxonMobil, which owns 30%. ExxonMobil said late last year that exports would begin in early 2025 instead of 2024 as the partners had long signaled.
Further construction delays could possibly push the start of liquefied natural gas production at the terminal into the second half of 2025, according to news media reports and sources with knowledge of the matter. The Gulf Coast labor market is tight with five LNG projects currently under construction.
NO. 2: South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said this week that state-owned Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) is likely to sign more long-term LNG contracts as some of the nation’s supply deals are set to expire over the next three years.
Kogas is the world’s largest LNG importing company. The ministry said prices would determine how much LNG the company signs up for under long-term deals.
South Korea is the world’s third largest LNG importer. It took in 45.17 million tons (Mt) of the super-chilled fuel last year, behind Japan (67 Mt) and China 72 (Mt), according to Kpler.
NO. 3: Chugoku Electric Power Co.’s Shimane No. 2 nuclear reactor in Japan may not be able to restart in August as previously planned. Safety upgrades at the facility are not expected to be finished in time, according to local news media reports.
Shimane No. 2 would help to boost nuclear power generation and cut into the country’s LNG consumption this summer along with others scheduled to come online at other plants.
Japan announced plans two years ago to restart mothballed nuclear facilities and develop others amid rising gas prices and tight supplies, reversing a decade-long policy that increased the country’s reliance on LNG.
Japan had been on track to source almost 50% of its power from nuclear generation by 2030 before the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The incident closed the country’s nuclear plants and led to more stringent standards at the facilities.
