Origin Exclusivity | FSRU secured | Australia’s Energy Landscape | Outer Harbor Site Update
I’m pleased to report that Venice Energy has completed Stage 1 Enabling works at the Outer Harbor Project in Port Adelaide, where the Project is now shovel-ready.
Recently, there has also been a significant increase in commercial interest and activity around the Project – culminating in several key updates:
ORIGIN EXCLUSIVITY
In October last year, Venice Energy signed an exclusivity agreement with Origin Energy to enable negotiations on Origin becoming the single user of the LNG import terminal. That agreement concludes at the end of this month.
There was an expectation that a final 10-year Terminal User Agreement (TUA) would be settled sometime in December 2023 or January 2024.
Venice Energy believes that elements of our negotiations with Origin have been impacted following the announcement by the federal government on proposed changes to domestic gas supply, which has introduced additional uncertainty into the gas market.
We are continuing to negotiate in good faith with Origin on potential solutions to ensure that enough new gas is delivered to avoid critical shortfalls as a result of rapidly declining domestic production.
Project Divestment
In recent months, Venice has been approached by a number of companies to discuss the purchase of the Project.
Venice has appointed international M&A specialists CLSA to run a process for interested companies.
To date, 15 companies have expressed their interest in the project and eight have so far registered as part of the due diligence process following the opening of a data room.
Although the requirements of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) prevent us from naming these companies, I can say they come from a number of different sectors, including existing energy operators, industrial gas consumers, international LNG-specific companies and some private equity players.
FSRU Secured
Since December last year, there has been a new development on the supply of the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) to the Outer Harbor Project.
Back in mid-2022 Venice signed an FSRU supply agreement (Time Charter Party agreement) with Greek shipping company GasLog.
Last year, GasLog underwent a major restructure and in doing so made the decision to sell-off a number of vessels to others.
In December 2023, AG&P LNG and GAS Entec emerged as a strategic partner to our project to provide the fully converted FSRU. We had some good discussions with them over last two months and we have secured a new commercial understanding that guarantees that the project will receive a converted FSRU at an improved cost and in a timely manner.
AG&P is a global player in LNG Terminal Development and more importantly, through GAS Entec, a South Korean firm and industry leader in FSRU conversions, has converted 3 LNG Carriers into FSRUs, which is integral to the development of the Outer Harbor Project.
The FSRU for the Outer Harbour project shall be fully converted by GAS Entec in a South Korean shipyard.
We are privileged to have AG&P and GAS Entec as our strategic partners to this project.
This month, we also met with several other entities to discuss investment in Venice Energy and divestment of the Outer Harbor LNG Project.
The strength of their interest and the breadth of some of the proposals put to me was something of a surprise but at the same time very encouraging.
Australia’s energy landscape
There is no doubt the Australian energy landscape is complex and forever changing, as both governments and the broader community push to address climate change and transition the Australian economy to a low carbon world.
However, there remains a need for additional new gas supplies to combat the decline in local production and to enable gas power to both reduce carbon emissions from coal and provide back-up for expanding renewables.
This is the world Venice Energy inhabits and the Outer Harbor LNG import terminal project is increasingly seen by both market analysts and energy investors as a key piece of the nation’s future energy puzzle.
PROJECT UPDATE FROM VENICE REGAS CEO
JOHN NICHOLSON
Stage 1 Enabling Works at Outer Harbor are complete. This includes a significant dewatering of large-scale dredge ponds (pictured below), which was a particular challenge during December following record rainfall in excess of 100mm for that month.
The team completed the earthworks for the construction access roads and the lay-down area to bring bulk materials to site.
A major program of geotechnical drilling was also undertaken, to a depth of more than 40 metres. Drilling was undertaken adjacent to the proposed wharf construction area and will allow finalisation of the wharf design.
This work has produced very positive results that will significantly reduce the project’s capital costs as we work to fully optimise both the delivery schedule and budget.
Venice’s project team has done a remarkable job so far to gain a full suite of project approvals; lock in a range of key permits and plans; and to recently complete Stage 1 Enabling Works on site.
