Venture Global Bulks Up LNG Financing

Venture Global LNG said August 16 it has raised another US$160mn in private capital from large institutional investors, bringing to $630mn the amount it has raised to support development of its two US LNG projects.

Venture Global is developing a pair of LNG export terminals in Louisiana, the 10mn metric tons/year (mt/yr) Calcasieu Pass facility on the Gulf of Mexico and the 20mn mt/yr Plaquemines terminal on the Mississippi River. Both projects will employ mid-scale liquefaction technology provided by Venture Global’s strategic partner, GE Oil & Gas.

Calcasieu Pass will be developed with nine 1.2mn mt/yr liquefaction blocks, while Plaquemines will consist of 18 liquefaction blocks, also 1.2mn mt/yr, developed in two phases. Each of the liquefaction blocks at both projects consist of two trains rated at 0.626mn mt/yr.

To date, Venture Global has signed 20-year sale and purchase or heads of term agreements for Calcasieu Pass LNG with a number of customers, including Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG), Portugal's Galp, UK major BP, Anglo-Dutch major Shell and Italy’s Edison.

Calcasieu Pass is more advanced than Plaquemines; it received a draft environmental impact statement from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) earlier this summer, and co-CEO Bob Pender said the company is preparing for final Ferc authorisations ahead of a planned construction start early in 2019.

“The contracting momentum for our Plaquemines project continues to grow, and we expect to announce additional milestones in the near term,” Pender added.