Venture Global and Grain LNG in the UK have signed a long-term agreement for the US developer to have access to storage and regasification capacity at the UK terminal, starting from 2029.

The US developer will be able to store and regasify 3 million tonnes per annum at Grain LNG, which is equivalent to about 5% of annual UK gas demand, according to a joint statement from Venture Global and National Grid on Monday.

The deal with Venture Global is the result of Grain LNG’s second auction process that was launched last September to allocate up to 9 million tpa of regasification capacity.

The terminal has nameplate capacity of 15 million tpa, and is the largest LNG import facility in Europe.

“The addition of our first US customer further diversifies our supplier base, underpins UK consumers’ energy security and guarantees the future of our world-class site out to 2045,” said National Grid Ventures president Katie Jackson.

The capacity expansion work at Grain LNG will make the terminal able to cover about one third of UK gas demand, potentially increasing LNG exports to continental Europe as well.

For Venture Global, the deal with Grain UK is the first TUA signed with a partner outside of the US.

“The Grain LNG terminal is an important gateway to the broader European market,” said Mike Sabel, chief executive at the US developer.

Venture Global has been at the centre of a very public spat with several European oil and gas majors, including Shell, BP and Repsol, who have urged US and EU trade regulators to intervene in a dispute that has seen the US developer selling its LNG on the spot market, rather than supplying the European customers it has signed long-term contracts with.

Since early 2022, Venture Global has shipped more than 200 cargoes from its Calcasieu Pass LNG facility. The company has continued to maintain throughout this time that the modular terminal has yet to begin commercial operations and, as such, its long-term sales contracts have yet to come into force.

In the statement released on Monday, Venture Global said 75% of its exports to date have been to Europe. These are understood to be all spot market sales.

The contractual dispute has seen Shell and BP lay accusations of “misconduct” and “profiteering” towards Venture Global which, in turn, has called out the majors for attempting to “bully a newcomer” through a “coordinated attack”.

Late last year, Repsol chief executive Josu Jon Imaz had said the company did not expect to receive any LNG volumes from Venture Global in 2024, but that the Spanish player had sufficient supply from other sources to cover its needs.

The buyers, which include Italian gas plyear Edison, have separately launched arbitration proceedings against Venture Global that are understood to be ongoing.