$3.5bn LNG: Shell accuses Venture Global of alleged wrongful earnings, as NLNG faces same offence

Shell has accused Venture Global of wrongfully earning $3.5bn, according to a news report by the Financial Times.

The irony of Shell’s arbitration case against Venture Global LNG USA is that Shell’s partner, the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) has been Sanctioned by a London Arbitration Court and The High Court of Justice of England and Wales for a similar breach of an LNG supply contract it failed to deliver due to an alleged unprecedented and historical improvement in LNG spot prices.

The British oil major alleges that the US gas giant (Venture Global LNG) redirected gas shipments to higher-priced spot markets instead of keeping its long-term contracts with European customers.

Shell has accused US gas company Venture Global of wrongfully earning $3.5bn, after delivering liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to higher-priced spot markets following a commodities price spike after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Venture Global LNG had earlier on condemned Shell for its poor performance track record at its LNG facilities.

Many LNG Industry watchers relate this allegation by Venture Global to NLNG’s London arbitration and Court Cases, where it was found that Nigeria LNG breached a contract for failing to deliver 19 cargoes of LNG, a contract it executed in January 2020, the arbitration panel was made up of John Beechey CBE, J William Rowley KC and Nevil Phillips. Further investigation from Online reports, reveals a staggering disregard of contract terms and conditions by NLNG. This is captured in an anonymised Judgement of The High Court of Justice of England and Wales issued against NLNG, on 31st July 2024.

The allegations by Shell against Venture Global are surfacing ahead of arbitration hearings Shell and several other energy companies have initiated against Venture Global, a newcomer that has disrupted the global LNG market, as reported by the Financial Times.

Shell’s claim was based on a study commissioned by Compass Lexicon consultancy, which aimed to determine the extra revenue Venture Global had seemingly wrongfully earned by denying certain European customers their contracted cargoes. Shell Chief Executive Wael Sawan had expresssed his view on the Venture Global breach stating ; “ it is not in the spirit of what we have typically seen, nor is it the norm in LNG Business. The global LNG business has been built over the past 60, 70 years on the back of sanctity of contracts, on the back of really ensuring that suppliers and buyers live up to their part of the bargain.”

The Global LNG Market is focusing on these proceedings as it will surely have a fundamental impact on future financial and legal ratings as well as stringent contract provisions to enforce and respect the sanctity of contracts between LNG counterparts. On the side of Nigeria LNG (NLNG) it is yet to be confirmed if it will proceed to the UK Court of Appeal, to seek an appeal against the Judgement issued.

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