Venture Global Defeats Repsol In Latest LNG Arbitration Case

Venture Global, a U.S.-focused liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer, has won its second arbitration case against Spain’s Repsol, Oilprice.com reported on Thursday.

In 2023, Shell, BP, Repsol, and other major oil and gas companies accused Venture Global of profiteering by selling LNG cargoes on the higher-priced spot market that they argued should have been supplied under long-term contracts.

Repsol subsequently filed an arbitration case against the U.S. firm.

The dispute centers on Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export project in Louisiana. Venture Global had signed long-term supply agreements with several energy majors, under which LNG deliveries were expected to begin once the facility entered commercial operations.

During the global gas crisis of 2021–2022—triggered by post-pandemic demand, supply constraints, and later intensified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—spot LNG prices surged, particularly in Europe.

During this period, Venture Global sold significant volumes of LNG on the spot market, generating billions of dollars in revenue.

Venture Global argued that it was contractually entitled to do so because Calcasieu Pass had not yet been officially commissioned.

Under the terms of its contracts, the company maintained that its obligation to supply LNG under long-term agreements only began after formal commissioning.

To that end, Venture Global extended the commissioning deadline for Calcasieu Pass while continuing to produce and export LNG.

In August, Shell lost its arbitration case against Venture Global after a tribunal ruled that the U.S. company had not violated its contractual obligations to long-term customers. Two months later, however, a court ruled in favor of another plaintiff, BP. Venture Global has now also prevailed in a separate arbitration case brought by Repsol.

Meanwhile, Venture Global built a second LNG facility, which produced its first LNG cargo at the end of 2024—before the Calcasieu Pass project was officially commissioned.

The prolonged dispute has raised concerns among investors with stakes in Venture Global’s second LNG project, Plaquemines.

Those concerns were compounded when Venture Global asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to delay Plaquemines’ official commissioning, prompting fears that the company could again prioritize spot-market sales.

In October last year, Venture Global wrote to its customers to reassure them that it had no plans to sell LNG on the spot market before the facility’s commissioning.

The companies currently suing Venture Global are investors in its first LNG facility, Calcasieu Pass.

In 2022, Venture Global earned billions of dollars from spot LNG sales amid Europe’s gas crunch, which began in late 2021 and intensified following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the EU’s subsequent sanctions.