US LNG development has seen a resurgence in the post-COVID world, with five projects with a combined capacity of 61.1 MMtpa (8.1 Bcf/d) of new LNG export capacity reaching a final investment decision (FID) in the last 18 months and one additional project. closing this milestone. Five of those six projects are from the “Big Three” of US LNG: Cheniere, Sempra and Venture Global, leading some to wonder if there is room for anyone else. But while all three companies are big in US LNG and have projects under development, only one is a behemoth. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at pre-FID projects under development by the Big Three, focusing on US LNG king Cheniere.
In part 1, we took a closer look at projects in development for Sempra, because at the time, Sempra had the project most likely to take FID next: Cameron Phase 2, a 7 MMtpa (0.93 Bcf/d) expansion of its existing terminal. in Louisiana. The expansion includes a fourth train and 1 MMtpa (0.13 Bcf/d) of additional capacity for debottlenecking of the existing terminal. The project is being developed jointly with existing buyers, although Sempra has opted to commercialize part of the capacity as well. The project is currently completing front-end engineering design (FEED) work, which is expected to be completed later this summer, with an FID following later this year.
From Part 1 was published, NextDecade has taken FID on Phase 1 of the Rio Grande LNG project, just weeks after announcing a major purchase and equity agreement with TotalEnergies. TotalEnergies took a 17.5% stake in the Rio Grande LNG project and agreed to take 5.4 MMtpa (0.72 Bcf/d) of LNG, functionally selling the first three trains. NextDecade said at the time that it was working to close financing for the project and would take FID in mid-July, which it did with the official announcement and full notice to proceed issued on July 12 to Bechtel, its engineering , contracting and construction. contractor (EPC). The three-train project has a capacity of 17.6 MMtpa (2.3 Bcf/d) and is likely to begin operations in 2027. (For more on the Rio Grande project, see Jump in the Line, Part 4.) Rio Grande is the first US project since Golden Pass took FID in early 2019 to come from outside the Big Three. But Rio Grande is an exception to the current paradigm, not a regime change: all the other projects that have taken FID post-Covid-19 have come from Cheniere, Sempra and Venture Global, and those three companies have projects in the works that are likely they will eventually move on. take the FID, with Sempra’s Cameron Phase 2 as the likely next FID sometime later this year.
