Confirming recent speculation in the media about a possible disposal of its LNG business, Engie said that it has initiated a strategic review of its upstream and midstream LNG operations. These include liquefaction, transport and global trading of LNG, stated the French multinational company.
It’s LNG downstream activities like regasification and LNG ex-terminal sales have been excluded from the review process.
Engie said in a statement: “At this stage, there can be no certainty as to whether the discussions with the counterparties, including Total, will lead to any agreement.
“Any agreement would have to be approved by the relevant governance bodies and the relevant employee representative bodies would have to be consulted.”
The company hasn’t revealed the amount it is looking to raise through the sale of a portion of its LNG operations.
However, a deal with Total looks to be on the cards in the near future, going by a report from financial newsletter La Lettre de l‘Expansion.
Total, unlike Engie is yet to officially open up on the possible deal between the parties.
In the past, Total had revealed its intentions to sell gas and power in France by 2017 end with an aim to get around two million customers.
Engie executive vice-president Didier Holleaux, at a recently held conference in Singapore, said that the company was looking for a partner for some of its businesses.
Holleaux was quoted by Reuters as saying: “To make LNG profitable, we need to be as big as possible. So we’re looking for a partner."
Under its CEO Isabelle Kocher, Engie is going through a restructuring process that is likely to see sale of assets worth €15bn and €22bn of capital injection into the company.
