UPDATE 2-GASTECH-Galp vows to protect contractual rights over Venture Global deal

(Updates with comments on Galp's future plans in paragraphs 9-11)

By Emily Chow

SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Portuguese oil company Galp Energia has no plans to make further purchase deals with U.S. liquefied natural gas developer Venture Global LNG, Rodrigo Vilanova, a member of its executive committee, told Reuters on Thursday.

Galp, which signed a 20-year contract in 2018 with Venture Global for 1 million metric tons of LNG supplies per year, is among several companies that have complained it has failed to supply fuel under long-term contracts, even as it has shipped at least 190 cargoes to non-contract customers.

"Galp will vigorously protect its contractual rights, including appropriate legal proceedings under the contract," Vilanova said in an interview at the Gastech conference in Singapore.

"We remain very disappointed with the fact that the project keeps producing and selling cargoes in the spot market to whoever pays more, while we have not yet received any cargo under our long term agreement," he added. "So as a foundational buyer, that’s very disappointing."

The company said in August it was weighing options with regard to Venture Global. Vilanova declined to comment further on the options.

Venture Global has blamed equipment failures for its inability to supply long-term contract holders with LNG cargoes and called the shipments to date "pre-commission cargoes". Venture Global CEO Michael Sabel told the Gastech conference on Wednesday that the company was always compliant with its contracts.

Several customers including Shell and BP have filed arbitration cases against Venture Global, which said in an April regulatory filing that it expects commercial operations to begin in the first quarter of 2024.

Shell Executive Vice President Steve Hill on Tuesday accused Venture Global of "deceitful actions" and said failing to meet contracts was "damaging and dangerous to the industry".

On the company's future plans, Vilanova added that Galp plans to expand activity in other geographies and diversify its portfolio to properly manage industry risks.

"For now, the Atlantic basin remains the core of our activity, but we are increasingly trading short-term with Asia. We could potentially consider an expansion (in Asia) in the near future. So far, our business in Asia is more short-term trade."

While European LNG buyers tend to lean toward shorter to medium term duration deals of around 5-10 years due to demand uncertainty, Vilanova said Galp could "potentially sign up for more long-term deals", not necessarily on the back of European demand but for trading and optimization purposes.

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Tom Hogue, Jamie Freed and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)