Centrica sets sail with landmark US LNG cargo destined for Europe

Centrica has loaded its first LNG cargo from the fifth LNG train at the Sabine Pass liquefaction plant in Louisiana, US, under an agreement signed in 2013 with Cheniere Energy Partners.

The gas was loaded onto the GasLog chartered Skagen vessel over the weekend of 28/29 September and will be transiting the Atlantic to land in Europe in early October.

Under the terms of the agreement, Centrica purchases LNG for an initial 20-year period, with the option for a 10-year extension. The agreement is on a ‘free on board’ (FOB) basis, giving it destination rights for the cargoes. This amounts to approximately 1.75mn t/y, equivalent to the annual gas demand of over 2mn UK homes.

Commenting on the first cargo, Jonathan Westby, Co-Managing Director of Centrica Energy Marketing & Trading and Global Head of LNG, says: ‘This cargo represents a significant milestone in Centrica’s involvement with LNG, which goes back 60 years to the world’s first seaborne cargo of LNG that demonstrated how large quantities of gas could be transported safely across the oceans. Since that pioneering journey, also originating from Louisiana, we have established our capabilities to become a global LNG business trading, optimising and operating vessels that now carry over 30 times more gas and take half the time to transit the Atlantic to Europe.’