LNG

The Golden Pass LNG export project in Texas being developed by Qatar Petroleum with US majors ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips as minority partners, has been authorized by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Golden Pass LNG already exists as an import terminal and will add three liquefaction Trains with a total production capacity sufficient to produce 15.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG with each Train producing 5.2 MTPA.

The FERC also approved permits for the associated 2.6 miles of the proposed Golden Pass Pipeline linking the terminal to the major pipelines bringing shale-gas resources to the US Gulf Coast.

The Golden Pass export project, located on the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas, is 70 percent-owned by Qatar Petroleum while ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips share the remaining 30 percent stake.

The FERC had earlier concluded that approval of the proposed project “would result in some adverse environmental impact, though impacts would not be significant with implementation of proposed mitigation” by Golden Pass LNG and the regulators.

QP, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have said they expected to invest around $10 billion to transform Golden Pass into a liquefaction plant.

The Washington-based LNG industry grouping, the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG), issued a statement by Executive Director Charles Riedl on the importance of the permit accorded to the Golden Pass project.

“This is another stepping stone in the development of the US LNG industry,” stated riedl.

“Having waited for over two and a half years to secure its FERC approval, we hope the Department of Energy will waste no time in reviewing Golden Pass’s application to export to non-Free Trade Agreement countries, so that the developers can move ahead with realizing this important project,” said Riedl.

Qatar’s partnership with ExxonMobil in the Middle East helped make the Gulf state into the world’s leading LNG exporter with 77 MTPA of capacity.

The US major has stakes in eight LNG Trains in Qatar owned by the two operating companies, Qatargas and RasGas, which are currently being merged into one company under the Qatargas banner.

Conoco-Philips has a share in one of the Qatargas processing Train at the Ras Laffan complex in Qatar.

The Golden Pass facility is not far from Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass liquefaction that came on stream in February 2016 and has begun exporting cargoes from two Trains.

US LNG engineer Chicago Bridge and Iron and Japan's Chiyoda Corp. were awarded a front-end engineering and design services contract for the Golden Pass facility in 2014.

The scope of work for CB&I and Chiyoda is to design the transformation of the existing import terminal into a world-class plant.

CB&I and Chiyoda previously completed the pre-FEED and engineering necessary to support the initial Golden Pass permit application to the FERC in 2014.

The US engineering company built the present import terminal which was completed in 2010.

In addition to supplying cargoes to the Far East via the expanded Panama Canal, the Golden Pass partners may also take advantage of higher European natural gas prices compared with the US market by delivering some cargoes into the South Hook import terminal in the Port of Milford Haven in the UK.

The South Hook facility is majority-owned by the Qatari company with ExxonMobil as a partner.

Most cargoes shipped from the Australia Pacific LNG’s facility on Curtis Island in Queensland in the third quarter went to the Chinese energy group Sinopec and Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power at average prices of US$282 per tonne.

Alaska has named three members of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation board, adding more expertise in liquefied natural gas before the corporation takes over control of the state’s planned LNG project.