FERC Approves First LNG Export Plant in Lower 48; Alaska currently has nation's only export facility

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the first LNG export facility in the Lower 48, the second export facilitly in the U.S. The plant will be located in Louisiana at an existing LNG import facility. Because the facility will export natural gas to foreign countries, the project required approval from the Department of Energy (DOE) to export the gas; that authorization was issued in 2010.  The DOE found that there were "substantial evidence of economic and public benefits" to grant the authorization.

Alaska currently has the country's only LNG export facility, in Kenai, which is owned and operated by ConocoPhillips. The plant was constructed in 1969 and supplies natural gas under contract to two Japanese utilities. The company had announced in 2011 that the plant would be shut down, but a ConocoPhillips spokesperson said today that the plant is now operating and will deliver four cargoes in 2012, the first in May.

In an order issued April 16, FERC has authorized Sabine Pass Liquefaction and Sabine Pass LNG, subsidiaries of Cheniere Energy, to liquefy and export 2.2 billion cubic feet of U.S. natural gas annually.

In a press release issued by Cheniere, the company states that it is finalizing financing for construction of the first two trains of the new LNG facility. They expect construction to start this year, with the first train to start operations in 2015/2016.

Comments

[hotel a paris]

The fact that policymakers are even dicnussisg exports is a remarkable statement about how the shale-gas revolution has turned energy markets on their head.What nonsense. Producers are getting killed because most of them cant make a profit at less than $8 gas. The marginal producer cant make a profit at less than $15 gas. The exporters cant make a profit unless the prices that they get their gas remain depressed. This means that the math does not work, something that even Mark should be able to see quite quickly.
+1

[Balvir]

The fact that policymakers are even dicnussisg exports is a remarkable statement about how the shale-gas revolution has turned energy markets on their head.What nonsense. Producers are getting killed because most of them can't make a profit at less than $8 gas. The marginal producer can't make a profit at less than $15 gas. The 'exporters' can't make a profit unless the prices that they get their gas remain depressed. This means that the math does not work, something that even Mark should be able to see quite quickly.