The U.S. Dept. of Energy conditionally approved energy developer Venture Global’s proposal to export liquefied natural gas from its planned Calcasieu Pass 2 terminal in Cameron Parish, La., marking the agency's fifth LNG site approval since President Donald Trump ended the Biden administration pause of export permits. 

The planned facility, known as CP2, would have capacity to export 3.96 billion cu ft per day of LNG once its construction is completed. The conditional approval allows Venture Global to export LNG to non-free trade agreement countries from the facility, and DOE officials said they expect to issue a final order within months. 

Venture Global plans to build an export terminal with 36 liquefaction trains, four 200,000-cu-m storage tanks, two marine loading berths and a 1,440-MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant at a 1,550-acre site near its existing Calcasieu Pass LNG facility. 

The company previously elected Australia-based Worley as EPC contractor, and last month the firm told investors that it was working under a limited notice to proceed. The plan also calls for construction of a pipeline with 85 miles of 48-in.-dia pipe and 6 miles of 24-in.-dia pipe connecting the facility to the existing natural gas pipeline grid in Jasper County, Texas.

Venture Global has not shared an estimated cost for the project, but company leaders said it spent $4 billion on its construction, engineering and design through the end of 2024. The company began its final investment decision this month, and says it already has agreements in place with ExxonMobil, Chevron and other energy sector companies. 

“This will enable us to provide our allies around the world with American LNG in just a few years and for decades to come,” Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel said in a statement. 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project last June, but later set aside part of that approval for an additional environmental review. 

The new approval drew criticism from environmental advocates. Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the group “sued over FERC’s approval of this project, and we will be closely examining the legality of this DOE approval, as well.”

DOE instituted a pause of LNG export licenses in January 2024, saying it needed to update the agency analysis process to include a greater understanding of long term energy supply and demand, as well as environmental factors. DOE then ended the pause on the first day of the second Trump administration. Since then, officials have issued an export approval to Commonwealth LNG, granted more time to begin exports from Golden Pass LNG and Delfin LNG, and issued an order removing regulatory oversight on JAX LNG’s use of the gas as marine fuel. 

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement that “we are cutting the red tape around projects like CP2 ... and ensuring the U.S. can continue to meet growing energy demand for decades to come.”