Hardly a day goes by without news related to the expansion of US LNG export capacity, be it upstream supply deals, gathering agreements or liquefaction capacity announcements. One project is nearing commercialization, five others are under construction and due for completion in the next few years, others are fully or nearly fully subscribed and will be officially sanctioned any day now, and the announcements just keep coming. A few days ago, Venture Global reached a final investment decision (FID) for the second phase of its Plaquemines LNG project. As export development accelerates in the coming years, more pipeline capacity will be needed, particularly to move gas supplies to coastal Louisiana, where most of the new capacity will be located. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our series highlighting pipeline expansions targeting LNG export demand, this time focusing on gas transportation projects in Southeast Louisiana, including those designed to supply feed gas to Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG project under construction.
In the first part of this blog series, we began with an overview of US LNG export projects driving midstream development along the Gulf Coast, including those that are already operational, have reached FID or are fully subscribed and about to reach FID. In Louisiana (or just across the border in Texas), these include Venture Global (VG)’s soon-to-be-up-and-coming Calcasieu Pass; QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil’s Golden Pass; the first phase of Sempra Energy Port Arthur LNG; and VG LNG mines in southeast Louisiana, including phases 1 and 2. In southeast Texas, Cheniere sanctioned its Corpus Christi Phase III project last summer, while NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG in Brownsville, TX, is also approaching the FID.
In addition, there are several other greenfield facilities proposed for the Texas-Louisiana coast that are working to secure regulatory approvals and/or commercial commitments to reach FID, including Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles LNG, the CP2 LNG from VG, the one already under construction from Tellurian. Driftwood LNG, and VG’s Delta LNG, among others. In terms of brownfield expansions, Cheniere is considering another mid-scale expansion in Corpus Christi, while Sempra’s Cameron LNG and Freeport LNG have announced Train 4 expansions. Cheniere also recently announced a major expansion of 20 million tons per annum (MMtpa; ~2.6 Bcf/d) from its Sabine Pass LNG facility. (For a complete list and map of projects, including offshore facilities, see the LNG Voyager Quarterly.)
