Vitol enters into multi-year Merakes Sellers LNG offtake

Vitol Asia Pte Ltd and the Merakes LNG Sellers have signed an LNG sale and purchase agreement (SPA).

This SPA represents the conclusion of an open tender process held in February 2023 by the Merakes LNG Sellers and awarded to Vitol Asia Pte Ltd after it had submitted the most competitive bid.  The LNG supply to Vitol will commence in 2024. Quantity will be approximately 0.55 million tonnes per annum for a period of 3 years on a Free on Board (FOB) basis, with a possible one year extension.  The LNG will be produced and loaded at the Bontang LNG plant from feed gas produced from the Merakes field located in Indonesia’s Makassar Strait. Merakes in turn is part of the East Sepinggan Production Sharing Contract, jointly owned by ENI East Sepinggan Limited, Neptune Energy East Sepinggan B.V. and PT Pertamina Hulu Energi East Sepinggan.

The Bontang LNG plant commenced liquefaction operations in the 1970s and has been reliably supplying LNG ever since, primarily to Asian markets.

Mike Muller, head of Vitol Asia said: “We are delighted to enter into this mid-term LNG purchase arrangement with the Merakes LNG Sellers. These Bontang LNG volumes are highly complementary to our portfolio and further enhance our ability to optimally, safely and reliably supply our customer base across Asia, whilst underscoring Vitol’s strong historical ties with Indonesia.”

Vitol has traded LNG for over 15 years.  It is expanding its presence globally and last year traded 13.7 million tonnes of LNG worldwide.