Tellurian Inc. is in talks with Saudi Aramco and Woodside Energy Group Ltd. about the two companies investing in its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Louisiana, according to people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. LNG developer has been reviewing various equity investment offers from energy companies related to its proposed Driftwood plant, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media. They said the potential deal could include MidOcean Energy LLC, a subsidiary of investment firm EIG Global Energy Partners, in which Aramco has a stake.
Tellurian shares initially jumped as much as 30% on the news before paring some of the gains. The stock was up 11% at 54 cents as of 11:03 a.m. in New York. Year to date, the penny stock is down about 28%.
Tellurian, Aramco, Woodside and MidOcean declined to comment.
Last week, Tellurian struck a deal to sell some shale assets to Aethon Energy Management LLC to advance its long-delayed Driftwood plan. Co-founded by U.S. LNG export pioneer Charif Souki, who has since been ousted from the company, Tellurian previously had supply agreements with the likes of Shell Plc, Gunvor Group and Vitol SA, but they were terminated due to the project’s slow progress.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., as Aramco is formally known, is looking to expand into natural gas. The government sold about $12 billion of shares on Sunday, with some of the proceeds earmarked to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil. Woodside, Australia’s largest oil and gas producer, has also been in talks to invest in other U.S. LNG export projects, including Energy Transfer LP’s facility in Louisiana.
It’s unclear how Aramco and Woodside would split equity and offtake from the proposed 27-million-ton-per-year Driftwood plant. The plant is fully permitted and isn’t affected by President Joe Biden’s pause on approving new LNG export projects.
