Mubadala Seals Acquisition of First Gas Production, Export Assets in US

The United Arab Emirates’ Mubadala Investment Co. has completed a transaction with Kimmeridge Energy Management Co. LLC to acquire a 24.1 percent stake in the United States asset manager’s SoTex HoldCo LLC.

The purchase, via the issuance of new equity, “marks Mubadala Energy’s U.S. market entry and reflects its ambitious expansion strategy”, a joint statement said.

SoTex’s business consists of an upstream unconventional gas position in the Eagle Ford in South Texas, held via Kimmeridge Texas Gas, and the Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana.

SoTex has now rebranded to Caturus. “Caturus is building the only independent, fully integrated natural gas and LNG export platform in the U.S. through a combination of its upstream operations under Caturus Energy, formerly Kimmeridge Texas Gas, and via Commonwealth LNG, a 9.5 mtpa [million metric tons per annum] liquefied natural gas export terminal to be located near Cameron, Louisiana”, the statement said.

In February the DOE granted the project a conditional permit to export to countries without a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. The DOE said then it was withholding a final permit pending its review of permitting considerations concerning greenhouse gas emissions, environmental impact, energy prices and domestic gas supply.

The DOE granted the FTA portion of the permit April 2020 for a 25-year term. Under that order, Commonwealth secured an export volume of up to 9.5 MMtpa, equivalent to about 441.4 billion cubic feet (Bcf) a year or 1.21 Bcf per day.

In May the DOE announced it would proceed with issuing final orders on pending applications to export LNG to non-FTA nations after concluding the public comment period for the review initiated by the previous administration. The DOE under President Donald Trump resolved that based on the findings, LNG exportation is in the American public interest, contradicting the interpretation of the department’s leadership under then-President Joe Biden.

Later in May the DOE resumed export permit decisions with a positive order for Port Arthur LNG, a Sempra project in Texas.

In June, Commonwealth LNG said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission upheld its authorization for the project.

Earlier this August, Commonwealth LNG said it had awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to Technip Energies NV.

Commonwealth LNG expects to make a FID (final investment decision) by year-end and start operation 2029.

At Caturus, Kimmeridge Texas Gas chief executive Dave Lawler retains the role. Bryan Gunderson also remains chief financial officer. Brian Cain, previously senior vice president for government relations at Commonwealth LNG, is chief corporate affairs officer at the rebranded company.

“Rebranding to Caturus reflects our continued evolution and strategy to capture value as global gas demand increases in the future”, Lawler said.

“With the addition of world-class investors like Mubadala Energy, disciplined capital deployment, continued operational excellence and a commitment to environmental responsibility, Caturus is well-positioned to become a differentiated leader in the global LNG landscape and energy transition”.

Mubadala managing director and chief executive Mansoor Mohammed Al Hamed said, “Today’s announcement is further evidence of our international growth strategy in action”.

The statement also said Caturus has now exceeded 600 million cubic equivalent per day of net production. “This milestone reflects the strength of the platform’s base and positions the company to achieve its long-term development plans of reaching one billion cubic feet equivalent per day by 2029”, the companies said.

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