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Venture Global has accused Shell of waging a “three-year campaign” to damage its liquefied natural gas business, as a boardroom battle to dominate the market for the super-chilled fuel heats up.
In an note to staff obtained by the Financial Times, the US company’s co-founders Michael Sabel and Robert Pender blasted Shell’s “misguided decision” to appeal a recent arbitration loss to Venture Global, labelling it the actions of an “upset” industry incumbent.
“[Shell’s] action relies on completely baseless claims and is an unfortunate continuation of their three-year campaign to damage Venture Global. This behaviour should be very concerning to Shell’s employees, board of directors and shareholders,” read the email, which was sent as a Thanksgiving message to the LNG company’s 2,000 employees.
The letter also toasts Venture Global’s success in signing $28bn in customer supply deals in Japan, Greece and Spain in the past month, saying it would face down competitors to enable it to become the “single largest LNG producer” in the world.
Venture Global has had a tumultuous year after battling arbitration cases filed by some of its largest customers, including Shell, BP and other European companies.
They alleged the US LNG provider breached supply contracts by failing to deliver shipments under long-term supply contracts, instead selling them on the spot market to profit from higher prices triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Venture Global denies it violated the contracts, arguing it was not obliged to ship the gas because its export plant on the US Gulf coast had not started commercial operations. The company had declared force majeure on its contractual commitments because its facility’s power supply needed repair.
In August, Venture Global defeated Shell at the International Chamber of Commerce. But in October it lost a separate case against BP, which is seeking damages worth in excess of $1bn.
Earlier this month Shell challenged its arbitration defeat in a New York state court in an attempt to overturn the panel’s finding.
In their note to employees, Venture Global’s co-founders said the company would continue to defend itself in the case.
“There’s no question the competition in our industry is fierce, and its clear Venture Global is outcompeting the rest. While that undoubtedly will continue to upset some of the industry incumbents, our team will continue to work hard and deliver real results,” says the note.
Shell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Venture Global’s legal difficulties have not limited its ability to sign new supply deals. Late on Tuesday the company said Tokyo Gas had signed an agreement to buy 1mn tonnes per annum of LNG over 20 years, starting from 2030 — the most recent supply deal signed by the producer.