Shell plc is looking to intervene in a complaint against Venture Global LNG Inc. one of its fellow contract holders, BP plc, filed with FERC late last year.
In December, BP filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting it compel Virginia-based Venture Global to release confidential information about the extended commissioning process at Calcasieu Pass. BP and other long-term offtakers of the project, including Edison SpA, Shell, and Repsol SA, have accused the company of hiding behind alleged technical issues to delay sending contracted cargoes in favor of selling its own spot volumes.
An LNG trading unit of Shell argued Tuesday in a filing it should be allowed to join the proceeding, as it “will be directly affected by the outcome of this proceeding.”
However, while Shell supported BP’s argument that Venture Global should be made to disclose information, it expressed concern with how that information would be handled.
“The Complaint requested an order for blanket disclosure of privileged documents, or unilateral redaction of documents by [Venture Global],” representatives for the company wrote. “Shell LNG respectfully suggests that the commission establish a proceeding before an administrative law judge to create an orderly process for disclosure.
“Ultimately, foundation customers such as Shell LNG and BP — as well as the public — need due process to understand [Venture Global’s] unprecedented and inexplicable process for purported commissioning that has so far been shielded from public view by [Venture Global’s] failure to follow Commission regulations regarding requests for privileged treatment of documents.”
Venture Global’s 10 million metric tons/year (mmty) Calcasieu Pass terminal loaded its first commissioning cargo early last year. However, it has yet to declare that the facility is complete and commercially operable, which would require it to begin supplying cargoes to its long-term offtakers that have signed contracts.
So far, nearly 16 million tons in commissioning cargoes have left Calcasieu Pass LNG for delivery to spot buyers, according to data from Kpler. Most of those cargoes have landed in Europe.
BP’s filing follows a similar request made by Repsol SA, another Calcasieu Pass customer, earlier this year for more disclosure. FERC rebuffed the request, saying the options to intervene in a commission proceeding are limited to requesting a rehearing of a final order and seeking a judicial review.
Venture Global has pushed back against claims of deception from its contract holders, both in the media and in its own filings to FERC. The company responded to BP’s complaint in a Tuesday filing, accusing its contract holders of both being dishonest with the agency and mishandling confidential information.
“All of these claims are baseless and demonstratively false, and seem calculated to try to discredit Calcasieu Pass and its parent Venture Global LNG Inc. – repeatedly referred to in the complaint as a ‘new entrant,’ which this European energy supermajor appears to view as a pejorative – in the eyes of the Commission and the LNG industry,” representatives for Venture Global wrote.
