Exxon Slightly Ahead of Schedule to Double Its LNG Portfolio by 2030

ExxonMobil is slightly ahead of schedule in its work to double its LNG portfolio by 2030, Peter Clarke, senior vice president for global LNG, has told Reuters in an interview.

In 2020, Exxon said it aims to double its LNG portfolio from 20 million tons per year to 40 million tons annually by the end of the decade.

Exxon’s current supply is slightly below 30 million tons per year, Clarke told Reuters, noting that “we are slightly ahead” of the schedule in the plan to double the LNG portfolio.

The U.S. supermajor, unlike European majors and top LNG traders Shell and TotalEnergies, bets on selling its own natural gas as LNG rather than of third parties, Clarke said.  

“Our portfolio is never going to look like Shell's, it's not going to look like Total's, we are targeting different aspects of the value chain,” the executive told Reuters. 

Exxon has several so-called advantaged growth projects, on which it will focus this decade. These projects include Permian, Guyana, Brazil, and LNG.

By 2027, Exxon’s supply is set to grow to around 27 million tons annually, thanks to a globally diverse portfolio of low-cost, capital-efficient developments, the supermajor said in its latest corporate plan in December 2023.

Exxon is developing LNG projects in Mozambique and Papua New Guinea, while it signed in 2022 an agreement with QatarEnergy to take 25% in a joint venture, which in turn will own 25% of the entire North Field East project.

QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil also have a joint project in the United States, the Golden Pass LNG Terminal in Sabine Pass, Texas, which is expected to begin operations in 2025. Exxon and the Qatari state-owned firm have agreed to independently market Golden Pass LNG volumes. ExxonMobil will market 30% of Golden Pass LNG volumes. 

Golden Pass is set to be mechanically complete by the end of 2024, Exxon said in the corporate plan at the end of last year. For 2024, the supermajor is targeting a final investment decision on PNG Papua, and aims to begin concept and design work on the Mozambique Rovuma project.   

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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