Exxon Mobil Continues to Ramp Up LNG Portfolio

Exxon Mobil is ahead of schedule with its plan to double the size of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio to 40 million tons per annum (mtpa) by 2030 and will focus on selling its own gas rather than trading that of third parties, said Peter Clarke, Exxon Mobil SVP for global LNG.

Exxon is revamping its LNG trading strategy amid growing production of the fuel and as part of a wider corporate reorganization that began in 2022. Unlike other majors, Exxon plans to mainly trade its own gas, said Clarke. "Our portfolio is never going to look like Shell's, it's not going to look like Total's, we are targeting different aspects of the value chain," he told Reuters in an interview.

Exxon said in 2020 it planned to double its LNG portfolio to 40 mtpa by decade-year, from 20 mtpa. It is now producing just short of 30 mtpa, he said. "We are well on track to achieve the objective we set ourselves back in 2020," Clarke said. "And we are slightly ahead of that."

For Exxon, there is more value in producing, liquefying and selling gas, he said. Long-term contracts still account for about 80% of the global LNG trade, he said.

"The big component in LNG is obviously the commercialization of the LNG itself," Clarke said. "We want to have the leading LNG portfolio in the world in terms of its financial robustness and financial returns. I would say we're well on the way to doing it."

Exxon's volumes will increase through the Golden Pass LNG project, where it has a 30% stake with QatarEnergies as a partner. That project has an estimated export capacity of around 18 mtpa and will produce its first LNG in 2025.

The company has said it expects to make a final investment decision for its PNG Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea this year and begin engineering and design for a Mozambique project by year end.

(Reuters)