A federal agency today granted Cheniere Energy a key export authorization for its Sabine Pass plant expansion in Cameron Parish, paving the way for the company to press forward with the liquified natural gas project.
As FuelFix.com reports, the U.S. Energy Department agreed to let Cheniere ship supercooled gas produced by the two additional production facilities to countries with which the U.S. does not have free trade agreements. The agency says it gave its approval after “extensive, careful review” of the project that took into consideration the proposal’s effects on the economy, energy security and the environment.
The announcement comes days after another federal regulator cleared Cheniere to start construction on the project, which is expected to boost Sabine Pass LNG’s output by 50%.
With its major regulatory hurdles out of the way, Cheniere is poised to make a final investment decision on the project, which will be built on the same site where the company already is building four liquefaction production facilities.
The company already received approval from the U.S. Energy Department to ship 2.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas for 20 years. Today’s approval clears Cheniere to export an additional 1.38 billion cubic feet per day.
