The Kinder Morgan-operated Gulf LNG project has been granted a 5-year extension by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to place its liquefaction project, which would add liquefaction and export capabilities to the existing Gulf LNG Terminal in Jackson County, Miss., into service.
On May 23, FERC granted Gulf LNG Liquefaction Co. LLC, an affiliate of Gulf LNG Energy LLC, an extension of time, until July 16, 2029, to construct and make available for service the Gulf LNG project. The previous order, from July 2019, was for project completion by July 16, 2024 (OGJ Online, Apr. 17, 2019).
The project consists of two new natural gas liquefaction trains, pretreatment infrastructure, and ancillary and support infrastructure at Gulf Energy’s existing LNG terminal; the extension of the storm surge protection system; two new marine offloading facilities—one permanent and one temporary—to receive equipment and materials during construction; and modifications to the existing terminal infrastructure, which includes replacing in-tank LNG pumps, increasing tank riser piping size, and modifying piping to permit bidirectional LNG flow.
The project will enable the receipt, treatment, liquefaction, and export of up to 10.85 million tonnes/year (tpy) of natural gas as LNG.
The Commission said it found that good cause exists for an extension as the company has “made a good faith effort to complete authorized actions within the time allotted but encountered circumstances that prevented it from doing so.
“Despite experiencing unforeseen impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, which began within months of receiving their authorization, the companies have still advanced the project,” the Commission continued.
Gulf Liquefaction has continued to seek long-term offtake partners, has secured most of the federal, state, and local approvals needed for construction and operation, and is working to finalize the engineering design and prepare for construction.
Gulf LNG Liquefaction Co. LLC is owned by Gulf LNG Holdings Group LLC and GLE and GLP are owned by a subsidiary of Gulf LNG Holdings, which is held 50% by Southern Gulf LNG Co., an indirect subsidiary of Kinder Morgan and operator of the Gulf LNG Terminal. The remaining 50% is owned by investors, including subsidiaries of The Blackstone Group, Warburg Pincus, Kelso and Co., and Chatham Asset Management.