A years-long effort by developer Energy Transfer to convert a natural gas import regasification plant in Lake Charles, La., to a liquefied gas export terminal progressed this month with the firm naming an EPC joint venture and pressing the U.S. Energy Dept. for an export license for the project, despite a Biden administration pause in granting them.
In a Sept. 19 release, Energy Transfer says it selected Houston-based engineer KBR and France-based Technip Energies for engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of the Lake Charles LNG project.
The project cost and contract value were not disclosed, and there is no announced final investment decision.
When completed, the three-train terminal would be one of the largest in the U.S., with a capacity of about 16.5 million tons per year, says Energy Transfer.
“Lake Charles LNG will help bolster global energy security and it will be designed to be one of the most efficient and cleanest operating facilities in the U.S.,” said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO, in a statement. Despite its move into more high-tech, science and federal consulting niches, KBR stated it has nearly 50 years of experience in LNG facility development.
DOE last year rejected Energy Transfer’s bid for a three-year extension to finish the project. But after a Louisiana federal district court in July temporarily halted the administration’s early 2024 pause of non-free-trade-agreement LNG export license approvals for added project impact review, the company pushed DOE the agency for an immediate Lake Charles LNG sign-off.
The ruling, which came in a lawsuit by Louisiana and other mostly Republican-governed states, orders restart of license reviews but does not set a timetable or require agency approvals. Energy Transfer now is in talks with Australian energy giant Woodside Energy as a customer and investment partner, according to a Bloomberg report.
The project is believed to have tentative buyers for about 8 million annual metric tons of gas and could reach final investment when that rises to about 12 mmty under contract, analysts say, although noting the developer previously cited “setbacks” in negotiations caused by the uncertain DOE permitting.
