Page 14 - GLNG Week 43 2020

GLNG AMERICAS GLNG

According to previous reports, the first though, the Mexican government announced a
phase of the ECA facility will be able to turn $1.2bn tender for the construction of a gas lique-
out 2.4mn tonnes per year of LNG. The export faction plant in the southern state of Oaxaca, on
terminal’s capacity may eventually rise to 12mn the Pacific coast.
tpy. The proposed terminal, which is being devel-
IEnova’s management team has high hopes oped by Salina Cruz LNG, would be capable of
for the new terminal. Experts believe that ECA’s turning out 500,000 tpy of LNG and would use
Pacific Coast location could give it an advantage existing marine infrastructure in the port of
over export facilities on the US Gulf Coast with Salina Cruz. The project is targeting a start date
respect to accessing key markets in Asia. of 2023 and will mainly serve Mexico’s domestic
gas market.
Salina Cruz project Salina Cruz LNG hopes to secure feedstock
Many companies around the world have delayed for the plant via an existing pipeline from Ver-
decisions about building new LNG export ter- acruz. This link, operated by the national gas
minals since the beginning of the coronavirus transmission system operator CENAGAS,
(COVID-19) pandemic, which triggered a sharp handles production from offshore fields in the
decline in energy demand. Earlier this month, Gulf of Mexico.™

US extends handful of LNG

export authorisations

POLICY LAST week, the government of US President
Donald Trump extended the terms of several
long-term LNG export authorisations until
2050. This was followed by the extension of three
further export authorisations until 2050 this
week. The moves came as no surprise, following
on from the US Department of Energy’s (DoE)
policy statement in July that it would allow LNG
export authorisations to be extended.
The first set of authorisations included Ven-
ture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass and Plaquem-
ines facilities, NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG,
Dominion Energy’s Cove Point LNG, several
separate stages at Freeport LNG and the third
stage of Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi LNG.
Of these, only the earlier stages of Freeport, as
well as Cove Point LNG, are already in service,
while the Calcasieu Pass terminal is currently
under construction. The remaining projects
have yet to reach the final investment decision
(FID) stage.
These approvals, announced on October 21,
were followed on October 28 by extensions for
Cheniere’s operational Sabine Pass and Corpus
Christi terminals, as well as one for Sempra
Energy’s proposed Port Arthur LNG facility. “DoE’s extended export term policy provides
With the exception of Cove Point in Mary- assurances to industry and the millions of energy
land, these projects are concentrated on the Gulf jobs that it supports, that this administration val-
Coast, in Texas and Louisiana. Exports began in ues US LNG as a reliable and abundant resource,”
2016, starting with the Sabine Pass project, and said US Deputy Secretary Mark Menezes. “The
the US has since become one of the top three continued success of US LNG exports, especially
global exporters of LNG. Additional liquefaction for power production in European and Asian
capacity is under construction or proposed, and markets, is helping our friends and allies meet
the country’s operating export capacity is pro- their global emissions reduction goals, while
jected to increase by more than 50% by the end supporting US energy sector workers and infra-
of 2025, according to the DoE. structure investments across the country.”™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 43 30•October•2020