页岩钻探公司EQT Corp.正在租赁两艘液化天然气运输船，并计划明年开始交易液化天然气货物，力争成为全球供应商。
Shale driller EQT Corp. is leasing two liquefied natural gas tankers and plans to start trading cargoes of the fuel by next year as it aims to become a global supplier.
此举标志着这家阿巴拉契亚生产商在液化天然气业务上的最新推进，此前该公司于本周早些时候以约128亿美元收购了竞争对手Range Resources。
The moves mark the Appalachia producer’s latest push into the LNG business and come after the company acquired rival Range Resources for about $12.8 billion earlier this week.
这些运输船租赁使EQT——即将成为美国最大的天然气生产商——有能力向海外输送天然气，并打开进入因伊朗战争而颠覆的高价全球市场的大门。
The tanker leases give EQT, soon to be the largest US natural gas producer, the ability to deliver gas overseas and open access to a higher-priced global market upended by the war in Iran.
EQT也是最新进入液化天然气贸易领域的公司之一，此时这场战争已使全球近五分之一的供应受阻，买家纷纷转向美国液化天然气出口作为替代。
EQT is also one of the newest companies to enter LNG trading, expanding into the area at a time when the war has throttled nearly one-fifth of the world’s supply and buyers have turned to US LNG exports as replacements.
“如果不做这件事，你就把大量价值留在了桌面上，”EQT大宗商品副总裁纳撒尼尔·麦克亚当斯在接受彭博采访时表示。“我们有资产负债表，也有合适的人才。我们处于非常有利的位置。”这两艘运输船分别名为“Marcellus”和“Utica”，以宾夕法尼亚州、西弗吉尼亚州和俄亥俄州的阿巴拉契亚页岩地层命名。这两艘船由Seapeak拥有，从一家韩国船厂订购，设计容量为17.4万立方米。它们定于2028年第二季度和第三季度交付。
“There’s a lot of value you’re leaving on the table when you’re not doing it,” EQT Commodities Vice President Nathaniel MacAdams said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We’ve got the balance sheet and the right people in place. We’re in a great spot.”The tankers, Marcellus and Utica, are named after the Appalachia shale formations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The vessels, owned by Seapeak, were ordered from a South Korean shipyard and are designed to hold 174,000 cubic meters of capacity. They are due to be delivered in the second and third quarters of 2028.
据麦克亚当斯称，EQT预计将租赁更多船只，可能还会再增加10艘，具体取决于在欧洲或亚洲的客户销售情况。EQT上月宣布了一项协议，向立陶宛能源公司Ignitis供应液化天然气。
EQT expects to lease more ships with possibly another 10 vessels to be added, depending on customer sales in Europe or Asia, according to MacAdams. EQT announced one deal last month to supply Lithuanian energy company Ignitis with LNG.
这家总部位于匹兹堡的钻探公司还计划扩大其位于休斯顿的三人液化天然气团队，在明年夏季前在伦敦和新加坡开设办事处，并可能交易欧洲天然气。麦克亚当斯表示，到明年年底前，这三个地点可能会再招聘10名支持液化天然气交易的人员。
The Pittsburgh-based driller is also looking to expand its three-person LNG team in Houston, open offices in London and Singapore by next summer and possibly trade European gas. Another 10 people supporting LNG trading could be hired between the three locations by the end of next year, MacAdams said.
近年来，随着页岩气行业趋于成熟、钻探天然气的成本降低，EQT 为提升利润率，在垂直整合方面投入更大。2024 年，EQT 收购了“山谷管道”项目的运营商，使这家阿巴拉契亚产区的生产商能更多地进入美国东南部市场。
EQT has become more vertically integrated in recent years in an effort to boost margins as the shale gas industry has matured, and drilling for gas has become cheaper. EQT bought the operator of Mountain Valley Pipeline in 2024, giving the Appalachian producer more access to Southeast US markets.
该生产商通过在建的出口项目，已积累了每年 600 万吨的液化天然气（LNG）供应组合，其中包括由 Sempra Energy 主导的亚瑟港液化天然气工厂、NextDecade 公司在得克萨斯州的大河液化天然气项目，以及 Commonwealth LNG 在路易斯安那州的项目。它还拥有计划中的得克萨斯液化天然气设施的供应，该设施尚未获得最终投资决定。
The producer has amassed a portfolio of 6 million tons a year of LNG supply through under-construction export projects, including the Sempra-led Port Arthur LNG plant and NextDecade Corp.’s Rio Grande LNG in Texas and Commonwealth LNG’s project in Louisiana. It also has supply from the planned Texas LNG facility, which has not secured final investment.
“我们建设这项业务不是为了一年或短期，”麦克亚当斯说。“这确实是 EQT 的一条新业务线，将伴随我们钻探天然气的时间一样长久。”
“We’re not building this business for a year, or the short term,” MacAdams said. “This really is a new business line to EQT, that’s going to be around as long as we drill gas.”