*

China-Russia gas deals won't impact Asia demand for US LNG

*

Venture Global ( VG ) does not see price compression due to

oversupply

*

LNG deals signed before and after arbitration cases "are

all the

same" -CEO

By Marwa Rashad, Francesca Landini and Emily Chow

Milan, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Recent gas agreements between

China and Russia are unlikely to weaken Asian demand for U.S.

liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Michael Sabel, CEO of

Venture Global LNG, the second-largest U.S. exporter of the

fuel.

China, the world's largest LNG importer, signed deals on

September 2 to boost gas supply through the existing Power of

Siberia pipeline and to build the Power of Siberia 2, raising

concerns in that this could displace China's appetite for

imported LNG.

"Don't get too distracted by short-term political impacts,

because we're making investment decisions to build things that

will be around for 50 years," Sabel told Reuters on the

sidelines of the Gastech conference in Milan.

"SPA (Sales and Purchase Agreements) demand is about as

strong as we've seen it at Venture Global ( VG ) in the last 10 years.

It's very, very strong right now."

Venture Global ( VG ) expects continued demand from Europe and

emerging markets in Southeast Asia.

"Europe is extremely short of electricity production

capacity," he said. "I think data centres are going to be a

massive source of new incremental demand, but you are short

today on gas production capacity."

Sabel said that as Asian economies develop, they will shift

electricity generation from coal to gas, along with nuclear and

renewables, increasing gas demand.

Sabel dismissed concerns that oversupply would lower prices.

He said that Qatar's additional output benefits developing Asian

economies by offering affordable gas.

"Venture Global ( VG ) is not a subscriber to the view that there's

a certain price compression coming from oversupply," he said.

QatarEnergy's North Field expansion is set to raise output to

126 million metric tons per year by 2027, from 77 million now.

"Qatar is a great supplier to the developing world. India

and Bangladesh are part of their portfolio, and that's a great

thing for these markets to have access to cost of fuel that

Europe and the United States have, or South Korea and China

have."

In August, Venture Global ( VG ) won a legal battle against Shell

over its failure to deliver liquefied natural gas under

long-term contracts starting in 2023. Other companies, including

BP, Edison and Galp, filed

arbitration claims from 2023, accusing Venture Global ( VG ) of

profiting from the sale of LNG on the spot market while not

providing them with their contracted cargoes from the Calcasieu

Pass export facility in Louisiana.

Sabel declined to comment on individual proceedings, but

said that "the contracts are all the same, the facts around the

facility are all the same."

"They are the same industry-standard contracts... with small

differences, but nothing material," he said.

On its LNG price offerings compared to other U.S. rivals who

have projects under development, Sabel said Venture Global ( VG ) will

continue offering competitive LNG prices.

"Ultimately, the price in commodity markets with demand gets

set by replacement cost."