US LNG firm Tellurian said it has begun a partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF) on a five-year, $25 million plan for reforestation and other projects across the US.
One of the first projects would be to re-plant 300,000 trees in the Kisatchie National Forest, located near Alexandria, Louisiana, according to a Tellurian statement.
Kisatchie was heavily damaged by recent weather events and lost nearly 40,000 acres of native trees.
Carbon sequestration
“Tellurian is beginning a long-term investment in reforestation, starting in our own backyard, as new trees help provide nature-based carbon sequestration, cleaner air and environmental resiliency,” Tellurian’s co-founder and executive chairman, Charif Souki, said.
Also, the NFF, in collaboration with the US Forest Service, has identified multiple projects across the country that Tellurian would support in the coming years.
“We recognize that natural climate solutions are effective and critically needed today, and that the NFF offers a powerful suite of strategies in this regard,” Souki said.
Furthermore, NFF executive VP Ray Foote said the foundation would plant 13 million trees in the next five years starting immediately with 300,000 trees on the Kisatchie National Forest.
NFF would ramp up tree nursery capacity to secure a future supply of millions of quality seedlings, he said.
“Finally, we will increase forests’ ability to hold carbon which is a critical natural climate solution. This $25 million investment by Tellurian, the largest contribution in the NFF’s history, will yield measurable conservation results for years to come,” he said.
Driftwood LNG
Tellurian is developing the 27.6 mtpa Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana, but it is also working on upstream assets. It recently brought online two new natural gas wells.
The Houston-based firm has this year signed three 10-year LNG supply deals for the Driftwood project for a total of 9 mtpa. These include contracts with Gunvor, Vitol as well as Shell.
Tellurian previously said it has sold all the necessary offtake for the first phase of the Driftwood LNG plant which would include two units with a capacity of about 11 mtpa. Total development costs for this phase would reach about $11.9 billion.
Also, the company is working on financing Driftwood in order to give Bechtel notice to proceed with construction in early 2022.
The Driftwood project has a preliminary $15.5 billion lump-sum turn key engineering, procurement and construction contract with Bechtel.