FERC approves Calcasieu Pass LNG export project

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently approved Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

In making the decision, the commission applied a new approach to considering direct greenhouse gas emissions from LNG facilities. It added that the approach could provide a path forward for consideration of LNG export terminals pending before it.

“Since I joined the commission, it’s been a priority of mine to expedite and improve our LNG terminal application review process,” FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee said. “I’m extremely pleased that we are issuing the certificate order for the Calcasieu Pass LNG export terminal today. This facility will have the capacity to export 12 million metric tons of US LNG per year. But even more so, I really appreciate the efforts of my colleagues to work together to come to an agreement on this facility. This is significant, as I anticipate we’ll be able to use the framework developed in this order to evaluate the other LNG certificates that the commission is considering.”

Chatterjee also noted that FERC’s work over the past year to improve its process put it in a position to make progress on the other 12 pending LNG projects.

“We signed an MOU with the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, cut through unnecessary red tape and reduced inter-agency friction by signing the One Federal Decision MOU with our federal partners, and increased the number of engineers working on our reviews by casting a wide net to capture talent everywhere we could find it,” he said.