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for the end of 2021. If an FID is reached on time, double the size of Calcasieu Pass, with a capacity
Plaquemines could become the only US LNG of 20mn tpy and up to 36 trains configured in
facility to be sanctioned this year, after several 18 blocks.
other proposals were either shelved or pushed Analyst estimates cited by Reuters put the cost
back to 2022 in recent months. of building Plaquemines at around $8.9bn, com-
pared with roughly $4.5bn for Calcasieu Pass.
Second wave
The imminent start-up of Calcasieu Pass is also What next?
significant, as is the first of a second wave of liq- Venture Global’s moves appear to be timely, with
uefaction terminals being built on the US Gulf Calcasieu Pass preparing to start up as gas short-
Coast, after four plants came online in the region ages persist globally and buyers in both Europe
during the first wave, beginning in 2016. and Asia are scrambling to stock up on gas sup-
While new trains have been added to existing plies before the winter heating season. Gas prices
terminals, such as the third train at Cheniere remain high. Venture Global’s
Energy’s Corpus Christi LNG, which came Meanwhile, two other US LNG producers
online earlier this year, no new terminals have on the Gulf Coast are struggling to maintain moves appear to
entered service since 2019. That was the same supply. In October, Bloomberg cited sources be timely, with
year that Venture Global announced its FID on with direct knowledge of the matter as saying
Calcasieu Pass. The company has moved rela- Freeport LNG was experiencing a wax build-up Calcasieu Pass
tively rapidly to build the plant, which appears in its pipelines owing to impurities in the gas it
set to enter service months ahead of its original receives. According to the sources, this means preparing to
schedule. LNG shipments from Freeport, in Texas, would
ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy’s Golden be reduced for the remainder of October, as well start up as gas
Pass LNG is also under construction in the as November. shortages persist
region, and other terminals – including Meanwhile, other sources told the news ser-
Plaquemines – are thought to be close to an vice that Train 3 at Cheniere’s Sabine Pass termi- globally.
FID. Up to five new projects could be sanc- nal in Louisiana was down owing to mechanical
tioned over the next few years, according to issues, though the situation was reported not to
consultancy Emverus. be as serious as that at Freeport. However, Free-
Calcasieu Pass will have the capacity to pro- port and Sabine Pass between them account for
duce and export up to 10mn tpy of LNG from more than half of US LNG production, so such
18 trains. The trains, each with a capacity of issues will not help the gas crunch.
626,000 tpy, are configured in nine blocks. Ven- The situation is thought to be adding momen-
ture Global will seek to replicate this approach tum to the push to build additional liquefaction
at Plaquemines – though that plant is set to be capacity on the Gulf Coast and elsewhere.™

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