Commonwealth LNG asks FERC for 4-year extension to export from Cameron, La.. plant
Commonwealth LNG earlier this month asked the US Federal Energy Commission (FERC) for another 4 years to construct and begin exporting LNG from its planned 9.5 million tonne/year plant in Cameron Parish, La.
The company stated it required extra time due to the Biden administration’s LNG export license freeze, ordered in early 2024. President Trump lifted the permit pause upon taking office, but Commonwealth said it could not meet the previously approved deadline of November 2027. It now seeks to extend the plant’s start date to December 2031.
"These delays were beyond the control of Commonwealth and unavoidably affected Commonwealth’s ability to advance the project on the schedule contemplated when its application was filed," the company said in the letter to FERC.
Commonwealth, a Caturus company, received export authorization from DOE in February, the first DOE permit issued since the Biden administration paused them (OGJ Online, Feb. 17, 2025).
Commonwealth expects to make a final investment decision (FID) on the plant by end-2025. It has signed multiple offtake agreements for the plant’s production, including a 20-year, 1-million tpy deal with EQT Corp. reached last month.
Commonwealth also noted that legal challenges presented “good cause” for FERC to extend its start date. Several environmental groups sued to stop the project after it received FERC’s final approval in 2022, saying the commission’s approval failed to adequately assess the impacts of greenhouse gas and other emissions.
Last July, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed with the environmental groups and sent the approval back to FERC for additional analysis. FERC finished the analysis in June 2025 and re-approved the project.
In other FERC news, the commission published a final rule Oct. 10 to remove a requirement that prevented it from issuing authorizations to proceed with natural gas projects while certain requests for rehearing were pending.
The new rule is effective Nov. 10, 2025, FERC said in a Federal Register notice.
The rule was added to FERC regulations in 2020 during the tenure of then-Chairman Richard Glick, a Democrat. At the time, the commission said the rule provided landowners more rights, while giving developers needed certainty.
The order was criticized by industry as a way to stall natural gas infrastructure projects.
About the Author
Cathy Landry
Washington Correspondent
Cathy Landry has worked over 20 years as a journalist, including 17 years as an energy reporter with Platts News Service (now S&P Global) in Washington and London.
She has served as a wire-service reporter, general news and sports reporter for local newspapers and a feature writer for association and company publications.
Cathy has deep public policy experience, having worked 15 years in Washington energy circles.
She earned a master’s degree in government from The Johns Hopkins University and studied newspaper journalism and psychology at Syracuse University.