FERC okays time extension for Kenai LNG conversion
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved August 16 a request from Marathon Petroleum’s Trans-Foreland Pipeline subsidiary to extend by three years the deadline for the conversion of the idle Kenai LNG export terminal into a facility to import LNG for use at Marathon’s adjacent refinery.
Trans-Foreland wants to use Kenai, which has not exported any LNG since 2015, to import four cargoes of LNG each year. It would use the existing terminal’s boil-off gas management system to deliver boil-off gas to the refinery. No regasification capacity would be added.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
FERC initially approved the project in 2020, when it set a deadline of December 31, 2022 to complete the conversion. In its request to extend the deadline by three years, Trans-Foreland said Covid restrictions and volatility in global LNG market have made it impossible to finalise commercial arrangements and consider a final investment decision.
Trans-Foreland said the project remains commercially viable, and that its permits and authorisations for the conversions are still valid. It is actively seeking suitable LNG supplies and monitoring market conditions, and once commercial supply arrangements are made it anticipates a positive FID.
Kenai was built by ConocoPhillips and entered service in 1969 but stopped exporting LNG in 2015 and was mothballed two years later. It was sold to a unit of Andeavor (now Tesoro Corporation) in February 2018 and acquired by Marathon in October 2018.