US liquefaction plant developer Venture Global LNG has started producing LNG at its Calcasieu Pass terminal in Louisiana.
“Calcasieu Pass produced its first LNG on January 19, 2022,” Venture Global said in a weekly commissioning report sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The firm did not provide any additional information.
With this, the Calcasieu Pass project became the seventh operational large LNG export facility in the US.
Once fully completed, Calcasieu Pass will produce about 10 mtpa of LNG from 18 modular units configured in 9 blocks.
The firm said last year that it could start first exports by the end of 2021, with full operations planned in 2022.
Also, it received an approval from FERC on January 12 to introduce gas to the first liquefaction block and South LNG storage tank.
Venture Global should ship the first cargo from the facility this month.
Calcasieu Pass has contracts with Shell, BP, Edison, Galp, Repsol, PGNiG, Sinopec’s unit Unipec, and CNOOC.
This is Venture Global’s first LNG export plant but the company plans to build three more export facilities.
Recently, McDermott’s unit CB&I secured a storage tank contract from a unit of Venture Global for the first phase of the planned Plaquemines LNG project in Louisiana.
The full project would have 20 mtpa capacity, four tanks, and three jetties.
Venture Global has still to take a final investment decision on this development.