Venture Global reached a Final Investment Decision (FID) on Plaquemines LNG Phase 1 in March 2022, becoming the first new LNG project to get the post-COVID green light and starting a period of massive expansion for to US LNG. In fact, more than 61 million tonnes per annum (MMtpa) of new US LNG capacity has been given the go-ahead in the past 17 months, including Venture Global’s full 20MMtpa Plaquemines LNG project, plus projects from Cheniere , Sempra and most recently NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG. Even if no new LNG projects are sanctioned after this, which seems unlikely given the progress seen on some pre-FID projects, the US will have the capacity to export 167.5 MMtpa, or more of 22 Bcf/d, at the end of this decade. This unprecedented level of construction continues to be dominated by our “Big Three” of US LNG: Cheniere, Sempra and Venture Global, who not only operate LNG export terminals in the US and have projects under construction, but even more capacity in development and working for eventual FID. On today’s RBN blog, we wrap up our series with a look at the newest member of the Big Three, Venture Global, its projects in development and the controversy surrounding the commissioning of Calcasieu Pass LNG.
In Part 1, we examined the projects under development by Sempra. Sempra currently operates Cameron LNG in Louisiana and has two sanctioned projects under construction: Port Arthur LNG, the 13.5 MMtpa project in Texas that took FID earlier this year, and ECA LNG (aka Energia Costa Azul LNG ), which will be the first ground in Mexico. ECA based LNG export terminal was the last LNG project to take FID before COVID and is scheduled to come online in 2025. Sempra also has expansions planned at Cameron, Port Arthur and ECA under development as well like another terminal in Mexico, Vista Pacifico. The Cameron expansion is the closest of Sempra’s projects to FID, with that decision now expected next year, but Sempra has also begun marketing Port Arthur Phase 2.
Next, in Part 2, we turned our attention to the undisputed king of US LNG, Cheniere, which is not only the largest exporter of US LNG, but ranks among the largest in the world, second only to QatarEnergy. Cheniere currently operates 45 MMtpa (6 Bcf/d) of LNG export capacity at its two terminals, Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi, and has a 10 MMtpa Corpus Christi expansion under construction, as well as more expansions planned at both terminals. With Cheniere’s track record of excellence and reputation, it has been able to secure long-term contracting commitments for the majority of expansion capacity very early in the development process. Corpus Christi’s last expansion, Midscale Trains 8 and 9, sold out before Cheniere had even announced a name for the project, let alone presented it to regulators. Both this project and the larger expansion planned at Sabine Pass are in the early stages of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval process and will need to complete it before taking FID.
