Venture Global raises its annual core profit forecast due to higher liquefaction charges and LNG sales
Venture Global, a U.S. company, raised its full-year adjusted core profits forecast on Tuesday. It attributed this to higher liquefaction charges and LNG sales volumes. This sent the shares of Venture Global soaring 8.4% during premarket trading.
The U.S. has seen a sharp increase in exports of super-cooled 'fuel' after the Middle East conflict disrupted the energy markets. Nearly 20% of the global LNG supply was knocked offline, forcing buyers to look for alternative routes.
Venture Global sold 481 trillion British Thermal Units (TBtu), or 130 cargos, of LNG in the first quarter. This compares to 63 cargos for 228.3 TBTu one year ago.
It expects to export between 147 and 154 cargos in 2026 from the Calcasieu Project, Louisiana. And 347 to 369 cargos for the Plaquemines Project.
The company has also signed new LNG agreements with TotalEnergies, and the trading house Vitol. These agreements will result in a combined sales volume of just under 1 million metric tonnes per annum for the next five years.
Venture Global now assumes a fixed range of liquefaction fees between $9.50 and $10.50 for each million British thermal unit (MMBtu), compared to $5 to $6 last year.
Liquefaction charges are an important component of earnings for U.S. LNG facilities. These fees are usually fixed by long-term contracts with the option to adjust pricing based on global LNG markets conditions.
The quarterly net income increased by 23.2%, to $488 millions, due to the higher LNG sales volumes in Louisiana at the Plaquemines project.
It expects adjusted core earnings in 2026 to be between $8.2 and $8.5 billion. This is compared to a previous view of $5.20 to $5.80billion.
Venture Global and Italy’s Edison came to an agreement in late March to settle a longstanding arbitration regarding claims that the U.S. LNG exporter had failed to deliver contractual shipments.
Edison and other companies accused Venture Global, claiming that it sold LNG at a higher price on the "spot" market following Russia's invasion of Ukraine rather than supply contracted volumes at the Calcasieu Pass facility in Louisiana.
Shell and Repsol both lost their cases while BP won last year. (Reporting and editing by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru, Sahal Muhammed and Pooja Menon)
(source: Reuters)
