New LNG plant proposal unveiled
Published 8:38 am Thursday, December 11, 2014
Venture Global LNG executives were joined by Gov. Bobby Jindal in Cameron on Wednesday as they presented their new LNG plant proposal for Southwest Louisiana.
More than 50 guests gathered in the Cameron Parish Police Jury meeting room to learn about the Washington D.C.-based company’s plans for Calcasieu Pass, a $4.25 billion LNG facility slated to be built on 203 acres at the mouth of the Calcasieu Ship Channel.
Making his second industry-related appearance in the region in the past six weeks, Jindal said the Calcasieu Pass project was another step in making America “an energy superpower.”
“When you look at oil and natural gas, we’ve got more combined than any other country in the world,” Jindal said. “There’s only one other country (Russia) that has half of what we have.”
Jindal said the energy sector accounts for one out of every seven jobs in Louisiana. He added that Venture Global’s proposal was another example of industry leading the way in job creation.
“Today is about creating jobs so that the next generation can grow up right here in Louisiana,” Jindal said.
Estimates from Louisiana Economic Development show the Calcasieu Pass project creating 100 direct jobs with an average salary of $75,000 a year before benefits and 326 indirect jobs, Jindal said.
The project is also expected to create up to 1,500 construction jobs, he added.
Described as a “mid-scale” facility, Calcasieu Pass will consist of two full containment storage units along with a complex of modular liquefaction components manufactured by Coastal Fabrication of New Iberia, Louisiana.
The facility will also contain 10 “blocks,” each of which will have the ability to liquefy 500,000 metric tons of natural gas per year for export. In September 2013, Venture Global executives received authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy to export up to 5 million metric tons of LNG annually from Calcasieu Pass to Free Trade Agreement countries over a 25-year period.
Venture Global has also applied for DOE’s non-FTA export license, which will allow the company to export up to 10 million metric tons of LNG a year to countries such as Japan, India, Taiwan and the European nations. Earlier this year, the DOE decided that it would no longer issue conditional approvals for its non-FTA licenses. Instead it would award the license after a project received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions, which oversees the environmental review of all LNG project applications.
William Wicker, CEO of Venture Global LNG, told the American Press that his company was “on board” with DOE’s recent change to its non-FTA license.
“There are a lot of different interpretations of the change,” he said. “But the practical effect is that DOE really hands (the project) off to FERC. Then you start a very intensive and involved process, which will shake out demand from the people who are applying, (their) serious intent, well-thought out plans and environmentally-responsible and safe plants.”
Wicker, who has more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, told guests in Cameron that the extraction of oil and gas from shale deposits has revolutionized U.S. energy production.
“Only a few short years ago, the energy industry was making plans for the import of natural gas, which was to come from the Middle East and Africa, because we were running out natural gas,” Wicker said.
Today, however, the U.S. stands poised to become a major exporter of natural gas in the next decade, up to 20 billion cubic feet per day, Wicker added.
“That will make us the second or third largest exporter of natural gas, maybe number one someday,” he said. “Louisiana will play a major role in this. Louisiana alone could end up exporting as much natural gas as Qatar in the Middle East sometime in the next decade.”
Venture Global submitted its pre-filing request in October with FERC for the Calcasieu Pass project. FERC officials accepted Venture Global’s pre-filing request on Oct. 10.
FERC’s pre-filing process begins the commission’s review of an LNG project and its adherence with the National Environmental Policy Act.
As part of the FERC’s pre-filing process, Venture Global will hold an open house with the public today at 5 p.m. at the Cameron Parish School Board Conference Center on 512 Marshall Street in Cameron.
Executives hope the LNG facility will be in operation by 2019.