Venture Global sanctions Plaquemines LNG with $13-billion financial close

Venture Global LNG Inc. made a final investment decision on its second project, the 20-million tonne/year (tpy) Plaquemines LNG plant in Louisiana, following closing of the $13.2-billion project financing for the project’s initial phase (upsized to 13.33 million tpy from 10 million tpy) and the associated 42-in. Gator Express pipeline.

Proceeds of the debt and equity financing fully fund the balance of construction and commissioning of the liquefaction project's initial phase, Venture Global said in a May 25 release.

The liquefaction plant is the first in the United States to reach financial close since Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass plant in August 2019, the company said. Calcasieu loaded its first LNG cargo earlier this year (OGJ Online, Feb. 7, 2022).

Plaquemines LNG, under construction in Plaquemines Parish, La. about 20 miles south of New Orleans, has received all necessary permits, including FERC authorization and non-FTA export authorization from the US Department of Energy. Twenty-year sales agreements for 80% of the full export capacity have been signed (OGJ Online, Mar. 7, 2022).

Plaquemines LNG phase one customers include PGNiG, Sinopec, CNOOC, Shell and EDF. Phase two customers thus far are ExxonMobil, PETRONAS, and New Fortress Energy. Marketing is under way for the company's third plant in Louisiana, the 20-million tpy CP2 LNG, for which sales agreements with ExxonMobil and New Fortress Energy have been signed (OGJ Online, Mar. 16, 2022; May 10, 2022).