US LNG developer Venture Global asked US energy regulator FERC for permission to place the remaining facilities at its 12.4mn t/yr Calcasieu Pass plant in service, the final step before beginning commercial operations after exporting cargoes from the Louisiana terminal for more than three years.
Venture Global is seeking FERC's approval by 1 April, according to a 25 March filing. The company is targeting a start-up date of 15 April for commercial operations, which is when the facility will begin supplying LNG under its long-term sales and purchase agreements (SPAs).
The terminal has exported 437 cargoes since March 2022, according to ship-tracking data from Vortexa. But because the facility has yet to begin commercial operations, Venture Global has sold those volumes on the spot market at much higher prices rather than to its long-term customers. The firm's liquefaction fees in 2023 and 2024 averaged $12.23/mn Btu and $7.28/mn Btu, respectively, compared to the average $1.97/mn Btu in its long-term deals, according to a company presentation in March.
Some of the facility's long-term customers, including Shell, BP, Italian utility Edison and Spanish company Repsol, argue Venture Global has been unjustified in deferring the contracted supplies and have launched arbitration cases against the company. Venture Global has pushed back against the offtakers' claims, saying that the whole terminal has not yet been fully commissioned, meaning that according to the terms of the contracts, deliveries are yet to start.
The LNG exporter originally sought to begin commercial operations in 2022 but cited impacts from two hurricanes and "major unforeseen manufacturing issues" related to one of the plant's heat recovery steam generators, equipment that helps power the facility.
LNG facilities usually produce commissioning cargoes for a few months before beginning long-term contracts. But Venture Global has said its unique plant design, which uses a higher number of smaller, modular liquefaction trains compared to traditional trains, requires a longer start-up process. A similarly longer commissioning period is planned at its 27.2mn t/yr Plaquemines facility.
In the 25 March filing with FERC, Venture Global requested permission to place in service the power island, pre-treatment, LNG storage, boil-off gas and marine facilities. Venture Global informed its offtake customers in February that it intends to begin contracted deliveries on 15 April.
