Venture Global seeks extension for completion of Calcasieu Pass LNG
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Venture Global LNG sought a one-year permit extension to complete construction of its Calcasieu Pass gas-export plant in Louisiana, in a filing Thursday with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
An existing authorization to complete work on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant expires February 21, but the company has said its startup, or commissioning phase, will not be concluded until late this year.
Venture Global LNG wants FERC to either issue a one-year extension, or rule that the authorization has been met because the plant’s liquefaction units are functioning, according to the request. It has said faulty power equipment have delayed the facility’s commissioning.
Shell SHEL.L opposes the extension request and called on Venture Global LNG to provide cargoes to it and others customers under existing contracts “no later than February 21, 2024, as FERC ordered five years ago,” a spokesperson told Reuters.
Shell, BP PLC BP.L, Galp GALP.LS and others have complained that they have lost billions of dollars in sales because the export facility has supplied others while failing to provide their contract cargoes citing the ongoing commissioning.
“Calcasieu Pass has long been in commercial operation and has produced at or above nameplate capacity for more than a year, exporting LNG cargoes every three to five days, for a total of more than 250 cargoes worth billions of dollars,” the Shell spokesperson said.
Venture Global LNG separately asked federal regulators to approve construction of its Calcasieu Pass 2 export plant at their meeting next month.
(Reporting by Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Gary McWilliams in Houston; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.