Venture Global's commissioning extension of Plaquemines LNG Plant has been approved by federal regulators

A regulatory filing revealed that federal regulators approved Venture Global's request for additional time to commission its Plaquemines LNG facility in Louisiana before declaring full commercial operations.

Venture Global can sell the liquefied gas at higher prices on the spot market by extending the commissioning phase. This is because long-term contracts are only applicable during full operation. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said that although Venture Global's two long-term customers - Orlen and Chevron - had asked for input, neither objected to the request. Last week, an arbitration tribunal ruled that Venture Global had breached a contract with BP BP.L by failing to declare commercial operations on time at its Calcasieu Pass facility in Louisiana. In the last month, the LNG producer's share price has fallen 36% due to the ruling as well as lower realized liquefaction fee in the second quarter. As we have stated, the in-service request for extension is a standard procedure that has been approved for all other LNG Projects including Driftwood Port Arthur Lake Charles Freeport etc. Venture Global stated on Thursday that this has nothing to do "with the timing" of commercial deliveries. Venture Global requested FERC to extend the deadline for Plaquemines until December 31, 2027. The company cited issues, including those that began during the COVID epidemic. The original deadline to put the export facility of 27.2 million tons per year into full operation was September 30th, 2026. Plaquemines LNG had planned to put all of its Phase 1 facilities into service in the fourth quarter 2026 and the rest of the Phase 2 facilities by mid-2027. Curtis Williams, Houston (Reporting) and Cynthia Ostertiz (Editing)

(source: Reuters)