Venture Global LNG’s Plaquemines LNG has signed a natural gas sale and purchase deal with Houston-based midstream gas marketer Southwest Energy, according to a DOE filing.
The filling dated June 28 shows that Venture Global Plaquemines LNG signed on May 23 a transaction confirmation pursuant to a previously-executed base contract for sale and purchase of natural gas with Southwest Energy, under which Plaquemines LNG will buy gas on a long-term basis from Tenaska.
The deal is for three years and five months.
Under the deal, Plaquemines LNG will buy 54,750,000 MMBtu prorated for an initial five-month period, and then 73,000,000 MMBtu for each of the following three years, the filing shows.
LNG Prime invited Venture Global LNG to comment on the agreement.
DOE approval
According to a separate filing dated July 11, the US DOE has approved a request from Plaquemines LNG to allow it to re-export natural gas imported to the terminal as part of the cool-down of terminal facilities during the start-up.
Plaquemines LNG is now authorized by DOE to export LNG previously imported from foreign sources in a volume equivalent to 6 Bcf of natural gas.
The FTA and small-scale authorizations will start on July 11, 2024, and extend through July 10, 2026.
Plaquemines LNG said it has determined that the optimal method for this part of the start-up of its terminal facilities is to import foreign sourced LNG by vessel and it may receive up to three LNG carrier cargoes for this purpose.
It expects that all of its LNG imports will occur this year, as part of its start-up cool-down operations.
Plaquemines LNG said in the request to DOE that it expects to begin producing LNG in mid-2024.
The company recently received approval from the US FERC to introduce natural gas to the first gas turbine generator (GTG) at the Plaquemines LNG terminal in Louisiana as part of the plant’s commissioning process.
Venture Global LNG also expects the commissioning process for the Plaquemines LNG terminal to take about 24 months.
Two phases
Venture Global took a final investment decision in May 2022 on the first phase of the Plaquemines project with a capacity of 13.3 mtpa and the related pipeline. It also secured $13.2 billion in project financing.
In March last year, the company sanctioned the second phase of the Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana and also secured $7.8 billion in project financing.
The full project, including the second stage, will have a capacity of 20 mtpa coming from 36 modular units, configured in 18 blocks.
Worth mentioning here, the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) last month gave the green light to Venture Global LNG for its proposed Plaquemines LNG uprate project.
According to a FERC filing, PHMSA issued a letter of determination on June 21 for the project aimed at increasing the peak liquefaction capacity at the Plaquemines LNG terminal from about 24 mtpa to 27.2 mtpa.
Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG plant received in August last year its first liquefaction modules.
Baker Hughes ships these modular units to the US from its manufacturing facility in Italy, the same as the firm did for Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass project.
In December, Venture Global LNG completed raising the roof on the fourth and final storage tank.
The firm completed raising the roof on the first tank in February, the second tank in April, and the third tank in September.
McDermott’s unit CB&I won a contract from a unit of Venture Global to build the first two LNG storage tanks as part of the first phase while the second phase includes two tanks as well.