Gov. Bobby Jindal and local officials got an in-depth look this week at the proposed $4.25 billion LNG plant by Venture Global LNG, a company based in Washington, D.C. The presentation is continued proof that companies are considering Southwest Louisiana as one of the premier places to expand.

This announcement — in addition to the more than $80 billion in industrial expansion projects already slated for the region — is certainly good news for our economy.

Venture Global executives said they plan to build the facility on 203 acres at the mouth of the Calcasieu Ship Channel and have it operating by 2019. It is considered a “midscale” facility, with two full-containment storage units. Each of its 10 blocks will be able to liquefy 500,000 metric tons of natural gas each year to be exported globally, company officials said.

Jindal said the project gets the U.S. closer to becoming “an energy superpower,” and that industry sits at the top in terms of creating job opportunities. In fact, he said one out of every seven jobs in Louisiana comes from the energy sector.

The Venture Global project is expected to create about 100 direct jobs and 326 indirect jobs, along with 1,500 construction jobs, according to Jindal. While the governor said he wants the next generation to “grow up right here in Louisiana,” the challenge remains for our area to produce enough skilled workers to fill those job opportunities once the facility is built.

William Wicker, CEO of Venture Global, said the energy industry has gone through some significant changes over the years in terms of natural gas. A few years ago, the industry was running low on natural gas and had plans to import it from the Middle East and Africa.

Today, things are different because oil and gas can be extracted from shale deposits. He said that in the next 10 years, America could be exporting up to 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Wicker said Louisiana “could end up exporting as much natural gas as Qatar in the Middle East” within the next 10 years.

The fact that yet another company has proposed to build a multibillion-dollar facility in Southwest Louisiana means the economy could continue to grow over the next several years. But, as with other projects like it, our region needs to continue preparing for the changes that come with growth on this scale and make sure there are enough local workers to handle the demand.(MGNonline)