Federal officials want to expedite the build-out of LNG export terminals
When Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members reached agreement on a Louisiana liquefied natural gas project, that decision provided the framework to expedite consideration of 12 other LNG export terminals pending before the commission.
The commission’s approval of Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, applied a new approach for consideration of direct greenhouse gas emissions from LNG facilities, according to a statement from FERC.
“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 in a news release.
FERC’s multipronged approach to improve its process over the past year positioned the agency to move forward efficiently with other pending LNG projects, he said.
“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,” Chatterjee said.
This Calcasieu Pass facility will have the capacity to export 12 million metric tons of U.S. LNG per year.
Meanwhile, in the wake of complaints from companies developing LNG export terminals and pipelines that FERC is taking too long to review applications, Senate Republicans have introduced legislation with the goal of expediting federal reviews of LNG terminals and other energy infrastructure.
“We are well-positioned to help other nations diversify their energy supplies and achieve a greater level of energy security,” Lisa Murkowski, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a news release. “Yet, that will only become a reality if we can resolve the application backlog at FERC and allow infrastructure projects to move forward.”
