Trump administration officials visit Louisiana plant to highlight huge LNG expansion

Top Trump administration officials visited one of Louisiana’s largest liquefied natural gas terminals Thursday as the company announced an $18 billion expansion it says will make the facility in Plaquemines Parish the largest in North America.

The visit from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, along with Gov. Jeff Landry and other state officials, was intended to show support for U.S. energy production despite concerns over climate change. The Biden administration had paused export permits for LNG plants in part to study the facilities’ impact on global warming, while Trump has vowed to move ahead quickly.

“Louisiana is going to become a larger exporter of liquefied natural gas than any nation on earth,” Wright said during the visit to the Venture Global facility.

Standing before a crowd of thousands of workers in hard hats, company CEO Michael Sabel announced the expansion, saying “that’s what we’re here to do — dominate global energy markets in LNG.”

While LNG has positioned the United States as a major exporter of natural gas and generated thousands of construction jobs along Louisiana’s coast, there have long been concerns over emissions linked to the plants.

Near the end of Biden’s term, the Department of Energy released a critical study of the LNG landscape, stating that the fossil fuel transport method poses serious economic and environmental problems, such as increased costs for consumers, heightened greenhouse gas emissions and a strain on already-burdened areas.

But officials on Thursday presented a bright future for LNG and rejected the concerns of the previous administration. Since Trump took office in January, his administration has begun approving LNG terminals and cutting barriers that restricted the use of the fuel. 

“One of our pathways to energy dominance is just unleashing the incredible resources that we have in this country: getting the red tape, getting the federal government off the back of the worker, off the back of companies,” said Burgum, who chairs Trump’s “national energy dominance council.”

A contested industry

Louisiana is the epicenter of the global LNG export market. In 2023, the state produced more than 60 percent of the nation’s LNG exports. The technology at these massive facilities converts natural gas into liquid form by supercooling it, allowing the fuel to be loaded on tankers and exported worldwide.

Natural gas was once seen as a bridge fuel between coal and renewable energy. Over the last 15 years, the U.S. has gone from being the largest importer to the largest exporter of natural gas.

But recent studies have found that natural gas may be no better than coal due do its release of methane, a powerful heat-trapper, and methane leaks throughout the oil and gas supply chain. Making liquefied natural gas is more energy-intensive than burning natural gas alone, accounting for even more emissions. 

Proponents of LNG tout job creation and the importance of supplying U.S. allies with fuel. The domestic industry gave European nations an alternative to Russian gas following the invasion of Ukraine. Burgum argued that in building LNG facilities, “we’re literally going to stop wars.”

Largest exporter in North America

The $18 billion expansion of Venture Global’s Plaquemines Parish site would bring the total maximum production capacity of the facility to 45 million tons per year from the current 27 million. Federal regulators allowed the company to up the export capacity at the site to reach the 27 million figure last month. The expansion is projected to be completed by mid-2027.

Sabel said the total investment of the company’s current and planned projects in Louisiana is over $75 billion. This includes Calcasieu Pass 2, or CP2, a project in Cameron Parish that garnered national attention and faced heavy opposition from environmental groups. CP2 is still awaiting approval. Sabel said CP2 is “getting ready to launch as soon as we get maybe a couple more permits from the federal government.”

One of the central concerns from residents and environmental advocates has been allegations of a multitude of permit violations from the company’s initial Calcasieu Pass terminal. Sabel said the company satisfies all the standards for greenhouse gases and other emissions. 

While the Virginia-based company is expanding its Louisiana operations and expressing confidence in its future growth, Venture Global recently saw a sharp fall in its stocks following decreased LNG exports and sales. Sabel said that as the company continues to grow, its earnings and revenue will grow with it.