FERC’s new approach signals LNG project certification breakthrough

Feb. 22, 2019
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission adopted a new approach for consideration of proposed LNG terminals that considers direct greenhouse gases from the facilities. It applied the approach for the first time when it considered and approved Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export project in Cameron Parish, La., it said.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission adopted a new approach for consideration of proposed LNG terminals that considers direct greenhouse gases from the facilities. It applied the approach for the first time when it considered and approved Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export project in Cameron Parish, La., it said.

“Since I joined the commission, it’s been a priority of mine to expedite and improve our LNG terminal application review process,” said FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee. The facility will have the capacity to export 12 million tonnes/year of LNG, Chatterjee said.

Chatterjee said FERC’s multipronged approach to improve its process over the past year put the agency in a position to move forward efficiently with 12 other pending LNG export terminal projects.

“We signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, cut through unnecessary red tape, and reduced interagency friction by signing the One Federal Decision MOU with our federal partners, and increased the number of engineers working on our reviews by casting a wide net to capture talent everywhere we could find it,” he said.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].