Kenai LNG gets FERC import terminal approval

Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary Trans-Foreland Pipeline Co. LLC has received US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval to convert its Kenai LNG liquefaction plant in Alaska into an import terminal. FERC gave Trans-Foreland 2 years to complete the conversion.

Trans-Foreland would import up to four cargoes of LNG per year and use its boil-off gas management system to deliver imported gas to the 68,000-b/d Kenai refinery. LNG has not been exported from Kenai since 2015. The plant has been maintained in a warm idle state since 2018.

To convert the Kenai LNG plant to an import terminal, Trans-Foreland proposes to build a skid-mounted, electric-powered trim LNG vaporizer module consisting of 10 trim LNG vaporizers; a 1,000 hp, electric-driven boiloff gas booster compressor, a vaporizer feed pump, an LNG circulation pump; twelve new valves and minor piping rearrangements; and appurtenant equipment. All construction will occur within the boundary of the current Kenai LNG plant.

Roughly 1 month before in-service, Trans-Foreland plans to apply for authorization from the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy to import LNG at the Kenai terminal.