American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2019 - 68

SpecialReport: Gas Compression & Vapor Recovery

FERC Lowers Hurdles For LNG Exports
WASHINGTON-Global natural gas demand in 2040 will be more than 40 percent
higher than 2017, the International Energy
Agency predicts, with most of the increased
gas calls coming from Asian markets. IEA
points out China alone will account for a
third of global gas demand through 2023
because of its "Blue Skies" policy that
aims to improve the country's air quality.
Liquefied natural gas trade is growing
to satisfy those new markets, the agency
says, citing as evidence the increasing
imports from members of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development. Total OECD imports increased 5.7
percent from 2017 to 2018, IEA says,
with the United States responsible for 86
percent of that jump. The U.S. Energy
Information Administration forecasts U.S.
LNG export capacity will increase from
3.6 billion cubic feet a day at the end of
2018 to 4.9 Bcf/d by December 2019.
As a result of an executive order
issued in 2017, revised policies are
easing the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's work in helping U.S. producers enter those markets. The agency
has advanced several proposed LNG terminals for the Gulf Coast. Those agency
actions include:
· Issuing the final environmental impact statement for the Rio Grande LNG
project and associated pipeline project
proposed by NextDecade Corporation
and its subsidiaries Rio Grande LNG
LLC and Rio Bravo Pipeline Company
LLC, to be built in Brownsville, Tx.
(April 26);
· Issuing a final EIS for the Annova
LNG Brownsville, Tx., project proposed
by Annova LNG Common Infrastructure
LLC, Annova LNG Brownsville A LLC,
Annova LNG Brownsville B and Annova
LNG Brownsville C LLC (April 19);
· Approving the Driftwood LNG and
Pipeline projects proposed by Tellurian
Inc. (April 18);
· Approving Sempra Energy's Port
Arthur LNG and Pipeline projects, proposed by Port Arthur LNG LLC, PALNG
Common Facilities Company LLC and
Port Arthur Pipeline LLC (April 18); and
· Issuing the final EIS for Kinder
Morgan's Gulf LNG Liquefaction project
in Jackson County, Ms., proposed by
Gulf LNG Liquefaction Company LLC,
Gulf LNG Energy LLC and Gulf LNG
Pipeline LLC (April 17).
68 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

One Federal Decision
To assist its approval process for LNG
export facilities, FERC reports it has revised its approval process. In February,
as part of its approval of Venture Global's
Calcasieu Pass LNG project in Cameron
Parish, La., the agency says it applied a
new approach for considering the impacts
of direct greenhouse gas emissions from
LNG facilities.
FERC chairman Neil Chatterjee says
the Calcasieu Pass terminal will have the
capacity to export 12 million metric tons
of U.S. LNG a year. Unlike earlier FERC
approvals for LNG terminals, the Calcasieu
Pass permit includes estimates of the project's direct GHG emissions.
"I really appreciate the effort of my colleagues to work together to come to an
agreement on this facility. This is significant,
as I anticipate we will be able to use the
framework developed in this order to evaluate
the other LNG certificates that the commission is considering," Chatterjee says.
He adds that FERC's multipronged
approach to improving its process during
the past year has put the agency into a
position to move forward efficiently with
the other pending LNG projects before
the commission. Chatterjee also notes
FERC has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for coordinated LNG terminal reviews, and has
sought to reduce interagency friction by
signing the One Federal Decision MOU.
The One Federal Decision MOU comes
out of President Donald Trump's Executive
Order 13807, issued on Aug. 15, 2017,
which requires all major infrastructure
projects to have one lead federal agency
responsible for guiding the project through
the federal environmental review and authorization process.
Under the executive order, the coordinated agencies will amass one record of
decision to satisfy National Environmental
Policy Act requirements, with all federal
authorization decisions for major infrastructure projects to be completed within
90 days the ROD's issuance. The MOU's
goal is to complete all federal environmental
paperwork for those projects within two
years of publishing a notice of intent to
prepare an EIS, the White House says.
Joining FERC in participating in the
One Federal Decision MOU are the de-

partments of Interior, Commerce, Energy,
Agriculture and Homeland Security, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency and Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation.
620 Bcf A Year
According to Venture Global LNG
Inc., its Calcasieu Pass project has received
all federal authorizations, and Kietit, the
project's engineering, procurement and
construction manager, is mobilizing pursuant to FERC authorization, and plans
to fully begin site activities soon. Under
20-year agreements with Shell, BP, Edison
S.p.A, Galp, Repsol and PGNiG, Calcasieu
Pass will begin delivering U.S. natural
gas to the global market in 2020, Venture
Global says.
The 930-acre Calcasieu Pass export terminal site lies where the Calcasieu Ship
Channel meets the Gulf of Mexico, and the
company points out several major interstate
natural gas pipelines are nearby. The facility
includes more than a mile of deepwater
frontage and two loading berths for LNG
vessels with capacities as great as 185,000
cubic meters. It also features two 200,000
cubic meter LNG storage tanks and the
TransCameron Pipeline, a 42-inch diameter,
24-mile-long line running to interconnection
points within the vicinity of Grand Cheniere
Station in Cameron Parish.
The Department of Energy authorized
Calcasieu Pass to export as much as 620
Bcf a year of LNG to non-Free-TradeAgreement countries on March 5. The
order allows exports for 25 years, to commence on the date of first export or seven
years from the date of the requested authorization.
The company's 20.0 mtpa Plaquemines
LNG project is expected to receive its
final FERC authorization in August, and
commence construction in 2019, Venture
Global adds.
On March 14, Venture Global reported
it had expanded the scope of the company's
LNG development business to 60 mtpa,
based on customer demand. The company
said it increased the size of its 2016
process equipment supply agreement with
Baker Hughes, a GE company, to accommodate the new goal, with a guaranteed
supply of modular liquefaction trains plus
power generation and electrical distribution
equipment that will be standardized across
the company's Calcasieu Pass, Plaquemines

American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2019