Venture Global receives DOE FTA authorisation

Venture Global LNG has been authorised by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to export LNG to countries that have existing free trade agreements (FTAs) with the US.

The application to the Office of Fossil Energy, a department within the DOE, was submitted in May. It consisted of a 25-year term contract to export 5 million tpa of domestically produced LNG from a liquefaction facility in the Cameron Parish area, Louisiana. The current agreement will see exports stand at 243.6 billion ft³/y, which corresponds to 670 000 million ft³/d.

Venture Global LNG said that it was looking to expand across and develop in all areas of the LNG industry such as “LNG liquefaction, export, import, storage, regasification terminals, converting existing heavy fuel oil and diesel power generation to natural gas-fired generation, [and] develop[ing] new natural gas-fired power generation in developing nations”.

The DOE is moving quickly to approve US LNG exports to FTA countries. It is also evaluating trade to countries without a free trade agreement with the US (non-FTAs).

Venture Global has identified non-FTA country Haiti is a target market. In its application, the company said the following: “By lowering energy prices, increasing energy availability and decreasing oil price shocks to the economy, exports of United States-produced LNG to Haiti may do more to encourage economic growth, stimulate job creation and complement the development assistance of the United States than any other single project there proposed to date. This benefit to Haiti is an important and unique aspect of Venture Global's project that furthers the public interest.”

Edited from various sources by Ted Monroe

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