UK Utility Loads First Cargo from US LNG Train

UK utility Centrica has loaded its first LNG cargo from the fifth LNG train at the Sabine Pass liquefaction plant in Louisiana for delivery in Europe, it said September 30.

Centrica has an agreement with Cheniere Energy Partners dating back to 2013, the cargo being sold free on board, so destination-flexible. The LNG was loaded onto the GasLog-chartered Skagen vessel over the weekend and will be transiting the Atlantic to land in Europe in early October.

Centrica said the cargo was "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." Vessels now carry over 30 times more gas and take half the time to cross the Atlantic to Europe than was possible then.

Under the terms of the agreement, Centrica purchases LNG for an initial 20-year period, with the option for a 10-year extension. This amounts to about 1.75mn metric tons, equivalent to the annual gas demand of over 2mn UK homes.