Venture Global LNG was given approval by US regulators May 10 to commission a gas turbine at its Calcasieu Pass terminal in Louisiana as the export facility prepares to possibly begin production in the coming months.
Once the seventh major US liquefaction facility starts up, the output will push total feedgas demand above 12 Bcf/d. That total will increase further by the end of the year when a sixth train at Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass export terminal, also in Louisiana, is expected to start up.
The activity would come on the heels of strong global market fundamentals.
With European storages recently drawing down hard on sparse LNG deliveries combined with concurrent cold weather, LNG demand will be much more supported this summer compared with 2020 as storage stocks are replenished, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics data. This will result in near full contracted US export utilizations with low risk of significant cargo cancellations. Cheniere, the biggest US LNG exporter, received no cargo cancellations during the first quarter.
In a letter to Venture Global, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the operator's May 3 request to introduce hazardous fluids – a type of ammonia -- to an LM2500 gas turbine at Calcasieu Pass. The work would be part of commissioning the turbine, the operator said in its request.
The 10 million mt/year capacity facility is being built using modular trains that are smaller than the traditional liquefaction units used at other US facilities. The modular trains are being constructed in Italy and delivered to the site and plugged in one at a time.
About half of the 18 trains to be used at the facility had been installed or were about to be installed as of mid-March, the company said in a FERC filing at the time. Venture Global also has raised the roof on its two LNG storage tanks.
Earlier that month, Venture Global issued a tender for at least 12 cargoes from Calcasieu Pass for delivery starting this fall.
The company plans a phased operational start-up that, with the requisite review and approvals from commission staff, could include the first exports of LNG in late 2021, the March filing said. That would be about a year earlier than originally anticipated. Full operations at the export terminal are currently expected in mid-2022.
A Venture Global spokeswoman did not respond to a message seeking an update on the timing of first LNG production at Calcasieu Pass.
Feedgas connections
TC Energy's ANR Pipeline was given the go-ahead by US regulators in April to begin service on part of its Grand Chenier XPress project that will provide up to 400,000 Dt/d of firm transportation service to Calcasieu Pass. Those supplies will be connected to the terminal via Venture Global's 23.4-mile TransCameron pipeline.
Venture Global has sold 8 million mt/year of Calcasieu Pass' total off-take under long-term agreements. It has said it expects that it will contract the remaining 2 million mt/year of capacity before the completion of construction.
Besides Calcasieu Pass, Venture Global is developing three other proposed LNG export facilities in Louisiana. Plaquemines LNG, which would be built in two phases and have a production capacity of up to 20 million mt/year, has not yet been formally sanctioned.
