Marathon’s unit Trans-Foreland Pipeline has secured an approval from US regulators to bring the closed Kenai LNG plant in Alaska back online as an import facility.
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said in its authorization dated December 17 that Trans-Foreland has two years to launch the LNG import facility.
To remind, Trans Foreland filed an application with FERC back in March 2019.
It plans to make modifications to bring parts of Kenai LNG out of its current “warm idle status” to allow for imports.
The Kenai LNG cool down project would allow the plant to provide up to 7 million standard cubic feet per day of gas.
Additionally, the fuel would be supplied to Trans-Foreland’s affiliated Kenai refinery adjacent to the LNG plant.
Trans-Foreland plans to import up to four LNG cargoes per year and use its boil-off gas management system to deliver imported gas to the refinery.
ConocoPhillips sold the Kenai facility to a unit of Andeavor in February 2018 while Marathon completed its purchase of Andeavor in October 2018.
The Kenai plant was the only LNG export facility in North America for 47 years.
This was until Cheniere’s Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana entered service in February 2016.
The Kenai facility has not exported LNG cargoes since the fourth quarter of 2015.