LNG, all projects in the US to increase supply
American companies are working to build new LNG export terminals in the United States. All the details on the projects and the companies involved
While the US continues to flood the global market with LNG from its seven operating plants, work is underway in America to build new terminals to increase production and meet the growing demand expressed by countries that no longer have access to Russian gas.
USA leader in LNG production
As Bloomberg tells us in a detailed article dedicated to the landscape of liquefied natural gas in America, the USA began to export its LNG en masse starting from 2016, and now has seven plants with which to supply its customers with a production that , according to data from the Energy Information Administration, has reached a level equal to 13.9 billion cubic meters per day.
Now, however, the US is aiming to expand production through the construction of new terminals. Not a small feat, also but not only from a financial point of view. As Jeff Hammond, chief commercial officer of Golden Pass LNG, explains to Bloomberg, the construction of an LNG plant requires the movement of a large number of components that must all be moved together. "It's a large and expensive effort," observes Hammond, "that is technically complex, and takes a long time to plan and implement."
Three new projects in the pipeline
Currently the first phase of the works has started for three major projects that have required a monstrous funding of 30 billion dollars.
Two of these projects, Golden Pass LNG in Texas and the first phase of Plaquamines LNG near New Orleans, are expected to come online in 2024. The third project, built by America's largest LNG exporter, Cheniere Energy , plans to expand of the capacity of an existing terminal called Corpus Christi which is expected to become operational in 2025.
Among many observers, analysts and market operators, the countdown has started to understand which will be the eighth US LNG plant to start production first.
Golden Pass
Golden Pass is a joint venture between industry giants Qatar Energy and Exxon Mobil, who reached an agreement on the necessary investments in 2019.
The plant began operating in 2011 as a gas import terminal, but was converted for export following the shale revolution and the US's transition to the status of major LNG exporter.
There are five thousand workers engaged in Golden Pass, to which another 2,500 will be added next year. Once completed, it is estimated in 2025, the plant will be able to export 18 million tons of LNG per year, equivalent to 250 cargo ships.
According to the agreements made in 2019, Qatar Energy will ensure 70% of the production of Golden Pass, while Exxon Mobili will receive the remaining 30%.
Plaquamines Lng
To build the first phase of the new Plaquamines terminal, which once fully operational will guarantee an annual production of 10 million tons of LNG equal to 130 cargo, Venture Global secured a loan of 13.2 billion dollars in May .
But the works in the terminal had already started in August 2021 and since then the contractors KBR and Zachry Group have worked tirelessly.
Venture Global also expects to start the second phase of the works as soon as possible with the aim of increasing production by a further 10 million tons of LNG.
Corpus Christi phase 3
Cheniere Energy, the country's largest LNG exporter, secured $5.5 billion in financing in June to expand its Corpus Christi plant.
Thanks to the recent export boom, which has guaranteed the company huge cash flows, Cheniere Energy will have no problems covering the additional costs for the completion of the terminal, the work of which is the responsibility of the contractor Bechtel.
The project, which will not be finished before 2025, will lead to an increase in production for Cheniere Energy estimated at an additional 10 million tons per year, enough to confirm the company's leadership over other US LNG producers and its status as the second largest manufacturer in the world.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/gnl-stati-uniti-nuovi-impianti/ on Sat, 26 Nov 2022 06:50:48 +0000.