The US Department of Transport Maritime Administration has issued a licence authorising Delfin LNG to own, construct, operate, and eventually decommission a deepwater port to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US. It marks the country’s first offshore LNG export project.
The Delfin LNG deepwater port facility will transport LNG to the global market from US federal waters, approximately 37.4 to 40.8 nautical miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
The Maritime Administration and the US Coast Guard worked with approximately 15 cooperating federal agencies along with the states of Texas and Louisiana to review the application. The agencies submitted recommendations for environmental and other licence conditions.
The port licence is being issued in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order titled, “Unleashing American Energy,” signed in January.
Source: Delfin LNG
Delfin LNG is a brownfield deepwater port requiring minimal additional infrastructure investment to support up to three FLNG Vessels, each capable of producing around 4 million tonnes of LNG and connecting to existing offshore pipelines. Up to 13.2 million tonnes of LNG per annum is targeted. The licence follows an LNG export permit extension for Delfin LNG two weeks ago.
Delfin purchased the UTOS pipeline, the largest natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2014 and submitted its deepwater port licence application in 2015.
The US LNG industry is a hive of activity, with the new administration keen to fast-track permitting and spur growth.
Last week US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright approved LNG exports at the Venture Global CP2 LNG export project proposed for Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
Cheniere Energy has also announced substantial completion of the first train of its Corpus Christi Stage 3 liquefaction project in Texas.
