Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG terminal gets cool-down cargo

Venture Global posted an image via its social media on Friday of the 2020-built 174,000-cbm, Qogir, at the Plaquemines LNG export facility.

The firm did not provide any other information.

This LNG carrier, owned by TMS Cardiff Gas and chartered by TotalEnergies, is laden with a cargo from Equinor’s Hammerfest LNG terminal in Norway, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue shows.

LNG Prime contacted Venture Global to comment on whether the company plans to use this LNG cargo for the cool-down of the facility and to provide further information, but we did not receive a reply by the time this article was published.

In April last year, Venture Global sought approval from the from the US DOE to export previously imported LNG from its terminal under construction in Plaquemines Parish in volumes of up to the equivalent of 600 million cubic feet of natural gas over a two-year period starting upon issuance of the authorization.

Plaquemines LNG sought this authorization 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 of those facilities.

The firm 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.

Plaquemines LNG expects that all of its LNG imports will occur this year, as part of its start-up cool-down operations.

Besides Qogir, Venture Global’s first LNG carrier, Venture Gator, was on Monday also located near the Plaquemines LNG terminal, its AIS data shows.

This 174,000-cbm LNG carrier appears to be empty and it may be used for re-export of the remaining volumes.

In June, Venture Global took delivery of this vessel in South Korea, the first of nine LNG carriers.

Plaquemines LNG to start production in Fall

Venture Global LNG recently revealed in a FERC filling that it expects to start LNG production at its Plaquemines LNG plant in Fall this year.

According to Venture Global, the company’s second project has completed nearly 80 percent of the project’s construction.

Venture Global is targeting first production of LNG this Fall, with “exports of LNG on
a pre-commercial operation basis beginning soon thereafter,” it said.

In April, the company said it expects to start LNG production at its Plaquemines LNG export plant in mid-2024.

Venture Global expects the commissioning process for the Plaquemines LNG terminal to take about 24 months.

According to a FERC filling dated August 23, the regulator granted Venture Global to commission the liquefaction train system block 1 with nitrogen gas.

Venture Global is also requesting in a separate filling approval from FERC to introduce gas and LNG to the jetty 2, marine transfer piping, LNG tank 1, and temporary LP flare.

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) recntly gave the green light to Venture Global LNG for its proposed Plaquemines LNG uprate project.

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.