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Released October 15, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Last week's decision by an international arbitration court that found that Venture Global LNG (Arlington, Virginia) failed to meet to a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract with global power player BP plc (London, England) might open the door for future claims against the company, mostly coming from European countries.
How long does it take to commission an industrial facility? A few months? A year? Two years? Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG production facility in Louisiana was in the commissioning process for more than three years. Basically completed in 2022 and shipping out an initial cargo in March of that year, the owners continued shipping hundreds of cargoes during the three-plus years of commissioning, selling LNG on the lucrative spot market. It wasn't until April 2025 that the firm shipped its first "commercial cargo" from the plant and began to honor its long-term supply contracts. During this time, Venture Global claimed equipment failures, primarily in the power-generation system, were at fault. A federal inspection confirmed the power system was in need of repairs.
Last week, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration supported BP's accusation of Venture Global's not following through with its long-term contract.
Timing is everything. The Calcasieu Pass plant ended construction and began its commissioning phase at the start of 2022. Less than a month before the first commissioning cargo was shipped, Russia invaded Ukraine, sending LNG spot prices into an unprecedented upward frenzy as European countries sought to distance themselves from Russian gas imports.
In February 2022, about two days before Russia officially invaded the Ukraine, then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would have doubled the Nord Stream gas pipeline network's transmission capacity of Russian gas to Europe to 3.9 trillion cubic feet annually. The sabotage of three of four pipelines comprising Nord Stream 1 and 2 later that year spelled the end of the multibillion-dollar, years-long project, closing the possibility of Europe's piped gas from Russia that way, although political maneuvers might have thwarted deliveries anyway.
The sudden shift away from Russian gas caused a panic in Europe, driving up already-increasing natural gas prices and significantly raising prices on the LNG spot market to Europe. The European benchmark for natural gas, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), had already begun heading upward in late 2021. Priced in megawatt-hours (MWh), for most of the prior decade the TTF had sat around or just below 30 euros (US$35) per MWh. Prices began escalating in late 2021 and had already more than doubled before Russia's invasion. On February 21, 2022, three days prior to the official start of the conflict, the TTF sat at 63.50 euros (US$71.70) per MWh. Prices spiked following the invasion, hitting a peak in August 2022 of more than 345 euros (US$748) per MWh, an increase of about 640% year-over-year.
BP charged that having previously signed less lucrative long-term LNG-supply contracts with multiple European companies, Venture Global began launching multiple cargos onto the spot market, saying that a fault in the plant's electrical system prevented it from officially beginning commercial operation and honoring those long-term supply deals.
As time ticked on, the companies on the receiving end of the unfulfilled contracts began to grow agitated. By 2023, multiple arbitration disputes were launched, including those by heavy hitters Shell (London) and BP. Venture Global maintained that its plant hadn't begun producing commercially, launching more than 400 cargos onto the spot market from the first commissioning cargo on March 1, 2022, to the official start of commercial operations on April 15 of this year, according to Kpler data cited by Natural Gas Intelligence.
Reuters reported that the Venture Global's average fees collected fell around 70% from the first quarter of 2025, when it was still shipping on the spot market, to the second quarter, when it began honoring its long-term contracts.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.
The first arbitration case, in which Shell was the plaintiff, was decided in August. In that case, the London Court of International Arbitration found that Venture Global was within its legal rights in shipping out the commissioning cargos before the plant entered commercial operations.
However, BP took its case against Venture Global to a different arbitration court. Last week, the Paris-based ICC International Court of Arbitration found in favor of BP in a case very similar to Shell's. Reasons for the differing judgements in the two cases were not immediately apparent, but suggestions include differences in the language of the supply contracts or that BP employed a different legal strategy.
Following the court's decision, Venture Global stated, "The company is disappointed by the arbitration tribunal's decision in the proceeding with BP, which it believes contradicts the decisive findings in the prior arbitration involving Shell."
Thursday's decision doesn't establish the damages that Venture Global will have to pay BP. That will be determined in a separate case in 2026, but BP is seeking more than US$1 billion in damages, interest and legal costs. The share price of Venture Global, which made its initial public offering in January, fell more than 20% at one point on Friday, wiping off more than $6 billion of the company's value.
Pending disputes filed by other companies could lead to a further $4.8 billion in damages. These companies include arbitration cases against Venture Global include Italy's Edison (Milan), Portugal's Galp (Lisbon), Spain's Repsol (Madrid) and Poland's Orlen (Plock).
Venture Global is on track to surpass Cheniere Energy (Houston, Texas) to become the U.S.' largest LNG exporter in 2027. That will occur when a second Calcasieu Pass plant, CP2, is completed in late 2027, adding at least another 20 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG, and possibly more, to Venture Global's export capacity. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
In the meantime, the company is wrapping up construction at its Plaquemines plant in Louisiana, which is being built in two phases (with a possible a third phase being considered) that will add about 27 MTPA to Venture Global's capacity. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports. A request regarding its commissioning timeline has raised some questions.
The first phase of construction of the Plaquemines plant is more or less complete, and the facility shipped its first cargo onto the spot market on December 26, 2024, to a German destination. Natural Gas Intelligence reported that in September, about a month after its victory over Shell, Venture Global filed with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the Plaquemines plant's commissioning phase by 15 months, requesting the deadline be moved from September 30, 2026, to December 31, 2027, although it isn't entirely clear whether the end-of-2027 deadline applies to one or both phases of the plant's construction.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
How long does it take to commission an industrial facility? A few months? A year? Two years? Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG production facility in Louisiana was in the commissioning process for more than three years. Basically completed in 2022 and shipping out an initial cargo in March of that year, the owners continued shipping hundreds of cargoes during the three-plus years of commissioning, selling LNG on the lucrative spot market. It wasn't until April 2025 that the firm shipped its first "commercial cargo" from the plant and began to honor its long-term supply contracts. During this time, Venture Global claimed equipment failures, primarily in the power-generation system, were at fault. A federal inspection confirmed the power system was in need of repairs.
Last week, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration supported BP's accusation of Venture Global's not following through with its long-term contract.
Timing is everything. The Calcasieu Pass plant ended construction and began its commissioning phase at the start of 2022. Less than a month before the first commissioning cargo was shipped, Russia invaded Ukraine, sending LNG spot prices into an unprecedented upward frenzy as European countries sought to distance themselves from Russian gas imports.
In February 2022, about two days before Russia officially invaded the Ukraine, then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would have doubled the Nord Stream gas pipeline network's transmission capacity of Russian gas to Europe to 3.9 trillion cubic feet annually. The sabotage of three of four pipelines comprising Nord Stream 1 and 2 later that year spelled the end of the multibillion-dollar, years-long project, closing the possibility of Europe's piped gas from Russia that way, although political maneuvers might have thwarted deliveries anyway.
The sudden shift away from Russian gas caused a panic in Europe, driving up already-increasing natural gas prices and significantly raising prices on the LNG spot market to Europe. The European benchmark for natural gas, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), had already begun heading upward in late 2021. Priced in megawatt-hours (MWh), for most of the prior decade the TTF had sat around or just below 30 euros (US$35) per MWh. Prices began escalating in late 2021 and had already more than doubled before Russia's invasion. On February 21, 2022, three days prior to the official start of the conflict, the TTF sat at 63.50 euros (US$71.70) per MWh. Prices spiked following the invasion, hitting a peak in August 2022 of more than 345 euros (US$748) per MWh, an increase of about 640% year-over-year.
BP charged that having previously signed less lucrative long-term LNG-supply contracts with multiple European companies, Venture Global began launching multiple cargos onto the spot market, saying that a fault in the plant's electrical system prevented it from officially beginning commercial operation and honoring those long-term supply deals.
As time ticked on, the companies on the receiving end of the unfulfilled contracts began to grow agitated. By 2023, multiple arbitration disputes were launched, including those by heavy hitters Shell (London) and BP. Venture Global maintained that its plant hadn't begun producing commercially, launching more than 400 cargos onto the spot market from the first commissioning cargo on March 1, 2022, to the official start of commercial operations on April 15 of this year, according to Kpler data cited by Natural Gas Intelligence.
Reuters reported that the Venture Global's average fees collected fell around 70% from the first quarter of 2025, when it was still shipping on the spot market, to the second quarter, when it began honoring its long-term contracts.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.
The first arbitration case, in which Shell was the plaintiff, was decided in August. In that case, the London Court of International Arbitration found that Venture Global was within its legal rights in shipping out the commissioning cargos before the plant entered commercial operations.
However, BP took its case against Venture Global to a different arbitration court. Last week, the Paris-based ICC International Court of Arbitration found in favor of BP in a case very similar to Shell's. Reasons for the differing judgements in the two cases were not immediately apparent, but suggestions include differences in the language of the supply contracts or that BP employed a different legal strategy.
Following the court's decision, Venture Global stated, "The company is disappointed by the arbitration tribunal's decision in the proceeding with BP, which it believes contradicts the decisive findings in the prior arbitration involving Shell."
Thursday's decision doesn't establish the damages that Venture Global will have to pay BP. That will be determined in a separate case in 2026, but BP is seeking more than US$1 billion in damages, interest and legal costs. The share price of Venture Global, which made its initial public offering in January, fell more than 20% at one point on Friday, wiping off more than $6 billion of the company's value.
Pending disputes filed by other companies could lead to a further $4.8 billion in damages. These companies include arbitration cases against Venture Global include Italy's Edison (Milan), Portugal's Galp (Lisbon), Spain's Repsol (Madrid) and Poland's Orlen (Plock).
Venture Global is on track to surpass Cheniere Energy (Houston, Texas) to become the U.S.' largest LNG exporter in 2027. That will occur when a second Calcasieu Pass plant, CP2, is completed in late 2027, adding at least another 20 million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG, and possibly more, to Venture Global's export capacity. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
In the meantime, the company is wrapping up construction at its Plaquemines plant in Louisiana, which is being built in two phases (with a possible a third phase being considered) that will add about 27 MTPA to Venture Global's capacity. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports. A request regarding its commissioning timeline has raised some questions.
The first phase of construction of the Plaquemines plant is more or less complete, and the facility shipped its first cargo onto the spot market on December 26, 2024, to a German destination. Natural Gas Intelligence reported that in September, about a month after its victory over Shell, Venture Global filed with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the Plaquemines plant's commissioning phase by 15 months, requesting the deadline be moved from September 30, 2026, to December 31, 2027, although it isn't entirely clear whether the end-of-2027 deadline applies to one or both phases of the plant's construction.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
