DOE allows LNG exports in containers from Florida to non-FTA nations

The US Department of Energy ruled that American LNG Marketing LLC’s proposal to export LNG in International Standards Organization certified containers from South Florida to countries not having a free trade agreement with the US is consistent with the national interest.

DOE authorized American LNG to export the equivalent of up to 8 MMcfd of gas, or 3.02 bcf/year, for 20 years to customers in non-FTA countries an Aug. 7 final order and decision. It said that ALNG is controlled by Fortress Equity Partners LP and sponsored by entities related to Fortress Investment Group LLC in New York.

Development of domestic gas resources is transforming the US energy landscape, helping improve US energy security, and spurring economic development and job creation nationwide, DOE said. “This increase in domestic gas production is expected to continue, with the [US] Energy Information Administration forecasting a record average production rate of 79.06 bcf/d in 2015,” it noted.

Volumes that would move through ALNG’s project are relatively modest compared with other recent final authorizations DOE has issued. It issued one on June 26 for Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass complex in Cameron Parish, La., to export additional LNG volumes equal to 1.38 bcfd for up to 20 years to customers in non-FTA countries.

“With this most recent authorization, Sabine Pass Liquefaction is authorized to export LNG up to the equivalent of 3.58 bcfd of gas for 20 years,” DOE said at the time.

An ALNG affiliate, LNG Holdings (Florida) LLC, has built a facility on 13 acres of the Hialeah Rail Yard in Miami-Dade Country, DOE’s latest final order said. Gas will be liquefied there and placed in ISO-certified truck or rail-mounted containers, then transported to container ships at the nearby Port of Miami or other Florida ports capable of handling ISO containers without modification, it indicated.

ALNG plans primarily to sell the LNG for use as a transportation fuel by railroads and motor vehicles in the continental US, US territories, and foreign countries in Central and South America; and for use in electricity generation plants converted from fuel oil, primarily in the Caribbean and Central America, the order said.

“In a recent filing, American LNG states that commercial operation of the Hialeah facility is scheduled to commence [August 2015], ahead of the schedule originally estimated in the application,” it added.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].