ABSTRACT
The Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas (YLNG) schemes history goes well back into the early 1990s when the LNG market was a niche business dominated by just a few buyers and producers. Even the Qataris had not started building their plants when YLNG was first mooted. Perhaps the key to YLNGs return was the Korean Gas Company (Kogas) tender for a 2mtpa contract in late 2004. YLNG obviously decided to bid hard and easily beat Australia LNG, Sakhalin 2, NIOC LNG and Malaysia LNG. In addition, there were various flexibilities built into the 20-year sales and purchase agreements (SPAs), such as assignment to other South Korean companies and a winter/summer buy split. The Kogas bedrock contract was then combined with two deals with US buyers, linked to Henry Hub gas prices. The YLNG plant was therefore designed in the middle of the requirement of the two markets at 1,050btu/scf.
