LNG

Energy Transfer, the US pipeline and infrastructure company developing the Lake Charles LNG export plant with Royal Dutch Shell, has launched a binding supplemental open season for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline system from Texas to Louisiana.

The Dallas, Texas-based company said it was soliciting additional shipper commitments for transportation service from Nederland in Texas to Lake Charles in Louisiana.

The company said that “bona fide” potential shippers who desire to receive copies of the open season documents were required to execute a confidentiality agreement.

The Bayou Bridge Pipeline to near the existing Lake Charles LNG import terminal which is being transformed into an export plant, will provide light and heavy crude oil services from multiple sources to Lake Charles and the St. James crude oil hub, which are both home to important refineries located in the Gulf Coast region. 

The 30-inch Nederland-to-Lake Charles segment went into service in April 2016 and the 24-inch Lake Charles-to-St. James portion was completed in March 2019. 

“The Bayou Bridge pipeline offers producers, refiners, and marketers an efficient option to move crude oil from origins in the Nederland, Texas, area to the refining demand centers around Lake Charles and St. James,” said Energy Transfer.

The pipeline, owned 60 percent by Energy Transfer and 40 percent by Phillips 66 Partners, is operated by Energy Transfer.

In addition to its other energy transportation projects and commitments, LNG will be a significant part of the Energy Transfer portolio on the Gulf Coast

Energy Transfer had announced in December 2019 with Shell US LNG a comprehensive commercial tender package for engineering, procurement and construction contractors for Lake Charles LNG.

The proposed Lake Charles LNG liquefaction project being jointly developed by Energy Transfer and Shell on a 50-50 basis would modify Energy Transfer’s existing LNG import facility in Lake Charles to add LNG liquefaction capacity of 16.45 million tonnes per annum for export.

Energy Transfer also noted that in October 2019 that the Permian Express pipeline expansion went into full service.

The Lake Charles facility was the longest-serving US import terminal before the shale-gas boom and previously imported cargoes from Trinidad and Equatorial Guinea.

Under the transformation, Lake Charles will become an export facility and the successful EPC bidder is expected to be chosen after the second quarter of 2020.

The commercial tender focused on the technical scope of the project, specifically verifications of the engineering and design of the liquefaction facility.

Energy Transfer sees the Lake Charles project would capitalizes on “repurposing” the existing brownfield regas assets to achieve cost savings in the construction of the liquefaction facility.

It added that the project would also benefit from the unique strength of Energy Transfer as a leading natural gas pipeline operator with extensive connectivity to the Lake Charles facility.

Energy Transfer and Shell have signed a framework agreement designating Shell as the project leader and as construction manager and operator of Lake Charles LNG.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has authorized a deadline for the Lake Charles plant to be completed by mid-December 2025.

Royal Dutch Shell and Energy Transfer, the US pipeline, storage and midstream company, have signed a framework agreement for the development of their large-scale LNG export project at the existing import terminal at Lake Charles in Louisiana.

Cheniere Energy has taken over care, custody and control from engineers Bechtel Inc of the first liquefaction Train completed at the Corpus Christi export plant in Texas and is expected to start regular commercial deliveries soon to Spanish and Indonesian contract customers.

“Train 1 at Corpus Christi has achieved substantial completion, becoming the first liquefaction train placed into operation at a greenfield liquefaction facility in the lower 48 states,” said Jack Fusco, President and Chief Executive of Cheniere.

“This momentous achievement was made possible by Cheniere’s professionals and our EPC partner, Bechtel, who worked diligently together to ensure a seamless transition from construction to operations,” added Fusco.

“I’d like to thank the Cheniere team and Bechtel for their world-class execution, which has enabled us to continue our impeccable record of bringing trains online safely, ahead of schedule, and within budget,” stated the CEO.

Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and Chief Executive the privately-held Bechtel, whose corporate headquarters are in San Francisco, said his company was proud to be contributing to Cheniere’s success on the US Gulf Coast.

“It was three years ago that we were able to support Cheniere’s entry into the LNG export market with Train 1 at the Sabine Pass Liquefaction project,” explained the Bechtel Chairman.

“With five trains now completed and operating well ahead of schedule, we are excited to continue working alongside Cheniere to deliver their next wave of trains with the reliability of outcome that Cheniere and Bechtel have become known for delivering,” he added.

“This program is a great example of how a one-team approach can bring world-class results, and I want to congratulate Jack and the Cheniere team for fostering this environment of collaboration and mutual success,” stated Bechtel.

Cheniere explained that under the Corpus Christi plant’s sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) with Spanish utility Endesa and Indonesian state energy company Pertamina, the date of first commercial deliveries is expected to occur in June 2019, upon which the term of each of these SPAs commences.

Additionally, volumes are expected to start being delivered in June 2019 under an SPA with a second Spanish utility Iberdrola.

The US Department of Energy said it had issued a short-term order to the Freeport LNG export project being developed at Quintana Island in Texas to export up to 2.14 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas as LNG over a two-year period to both free-trade and non-free trade agreement countries.