TotalEnergies SE has signed an agreement to buy a 45 percent stake in dry gas-producing assets in the Eagle Ford basin from Lewis Energy Group, its second acquisition in the shale play in Texas this year after an earlier deal with the same company. The French energy giant intends to use its share of production from both acquisitions, which involve non-operating interests, in the producing Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Louisiana.
The assets in the second transaction with Lewis Energy can reach 400 million cubic feet a day (MMcfd) in gross production by 2028, according to TotalEnergies. The assets are in southwest Texas. “This acquisition further strengthens our upstream gas position in the United States and contributes to our integrated LNG position with a low-cost upstream gas supply”, Nicolas Terraz, president of exploration and production at TotalEnergies, said in a company statement.
Earlier, TotalEnergies took over Lewis Energy’s 20 percent stake in the Dorado field, which is operated by EOG Resources Inc. (80 percent). “Located in Texas, the Dorado field will allow TotalEnergies to increase its net U.S. natural gas production by 50 million cubic feet a day (Mcf/d) in 2024, with the potential for an additional 50 Mcf/d by 2028”, TotalEnergies said in a press release April 8.
The new Eagle Ford properties will supply Cameron LNG, a three-train facility with a capacity of 14.95 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa), an equivalent of 772 billion cubic feet a year of natural gas according to the Cameron LNG joint venture. TotalEnergies and its partners plan to add 6.75 MMtpa of capacity. Cameron LNG, which sits 18 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico on the Calcasieu ship channel near a pipeline hub, started production 2019. Besides TotalEnergies (16.6 percent), the co-venturers are Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co. and NYK Line.
TotalEnergies, which claims to be the biggest exporter of United States LNG with over 10 MMt exported from the country last year, expects to raise its export capacity for LNG from the U.S. to 15 MMtpa by 2030. Across its portfolio, TotalEnergies aims to increase the share of natural gas in its sales mix to nearly 50 percent by 2030. Earlier this month TotalEnergies unveiled long-term agreements to export LNG to South Korea, China and Turkiye.
On September 24 it said it had signed a heads of agreement with HD Hyundai Chemical Co. Ltd. for the sale of 200,000 metric tons per year. The agreement lasts seven years from 2027. On September 19 TotalEnergies said it had secured a five-year extension to a contract with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) for the delivery of 1.25 MMtpa of LNG until 2034. On September 18 TotalEnergies said it had inked a heads of agreement with Turkiye’s state-owned BOTAS for the delivery of 1.1 MMtpa of LNG for 10 years from 2027.
Source: rigzone.com