Venture Global has confirmed that its Calcasieu Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Louisiana will start commercial operations in April 2025.
Once operational, the plant will export at least 10 million tonnes per annum of LNG. The 432-acre site is near several major interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.
The start-up date is under 68 months from the site reaching a final investment decision. During that time, it had faced substantial impacts from two hurricanes, the Covid-19 pandemic, and manufacturing issues.
“Venture Global wishes to express its gratitude to its construction and completion teams who tirelessly worked to safely complete our facilities, to our vendor teams who provided invaluable support for the necessary repairs, and to our government regulators for their oversight and cooperation,” the company said in a statement.
The project created 130 direct jobs, 300 indirect jobs, and 2,100 construction jobs at peak construction.
Contract concerns
In the past few years, Venture Global has faced multiple contractual disputes with companies over delays at Calcasieu Pass.
In December 2023, bp filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) against Venture Global for not being transparent about the status of the facility.
Read more: bp files FERC complaint again Venture Global’s LNG site
At the time, the oil and gas major said Venture Global was violating FERC regulations by submitting redacted filings that obscured the status of its Calcasieu Pass LNG facility, bypassing transparency requirements and public scrutiny.
Later, in October 2024, Italy’s Edison commenced international arbitration against Venture Global for breach of contract.
Read more: Venture Global face arbitration over delayed LNG deliveries to Edison
Venture Global said technical issues caused the delay, but Edison said that the LNG business had already exported 355 cargos to the high-priced spot market and generated more than $20bn in revenues.
Venture Global started exporting LNG cargo in March 2022. The facility produced a nameplate capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum by September 2022 and reached substantial completion in November 2022.
In July 2023, reports indicated that Shell and bp had separately filed for arbitration against Venture Global over unfulfilled LNG delivery obligations.
A new era of US LNG
The Trump administration has taken steps aimed at bolstering the US LNG industry.
Three days into the job, the US President lifted permits on two LNG plants in Louisiana, which “were in review for years.”
These approvals are expected to accelerate US LNG plant output, which is expected to grow considerably this year, according to a newly released ICIS LNG Edge supply forecast.
According to the US Energy Information Administration’s most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook, current US LNG exports are expected to reach record highs in 2025, averaging over 15 billion cubic feet per day.
These record export levels are accompanied by record highs in current US natural gas production of almost 105 billion cubic feet per day.
Additionally, President Trump has signed an executive order establishing the National Energy Dominance Council.
The Council will advise on strategies to achieve ‘energy dominance’ by improving the processes for permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, and transportation across all forms of American energy.
According to a White House statement, America’s LNG industry has played a critical role in reducing Europe’s energy dependence on Russia, with exports rising 141% in 2022.
