In our recent article on the Shell v Venture Global dispute, we highlighted that Venture Global remained in dispute with other anchor buyers from the Calcasieu Pass LNG liquefaction facility and discussed whether the Shell case might influence the other ongoing arbitrations against Venture Global, or lead to their compromise. 

Since our article was published, an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal has found in favour of BP in its dispute with Venture Global, issuing a partial award finding that Venture Global breached its obligations to sell cargos to BP under its LNG SPA by failing to declare commercial operations in a timely manner and to act as a “Reasonable and Prudent Operator.”

The conflicting arbitration decisions in the Shell and BP disputes help to illustrate the importance of carefully defining the ‘start date’ of long-term LNG SPAs and the need for agreements to pay detailed consideration to commissioning procedures, the ability of sellers to sell cargoes to the spot market during the commissioning period and force majeure provisions.