Lake Charles LNG facility could begin construction in 2014

With regulatory approval, the partner companies behind a planned liquefied natural gas plant in Lake Charles say the facility could be under construction by 2014, with exports beginning in 2018. Those estimates are included in a recent letter from Trunkline LNG to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission outlining the company’s plans to apply for permission to build out liquefaction capabilities at the facility. Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle says the letter marks the formal start of Trunkline’s attempts to get the last major federal regulatory approval needed to liquefy natural gas and export it. Angelle says approval could mean billions of dollars of investment in the state to make the conversion, as well as the creation of new markets for domestic energy in the state. “As companies invest in those opportunities, that means a stronger economy, more jobs with exploration companies and the businesses that support them and greater domestic energy security—especially if other nations learn to depend on our production for their own energy security,” Angelle says in a prepared release. Companies partnering with Trunkline include BG Group and Southern Union. Angelle says Trunkline has already received approval from the U.S. Department of Energy to re-export imported natural gas to nations covered by free-trade agreements with the United States and is applying for the same permission to export to nations without such free-trade agreements. The department is still considering the request. The project is one of two LNG projects undergoing the FERC regulatory approval process in the state. Sabine Pass Liquefaction, a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy Partners, also has an application under review by FERC for its planned facility in the Lake Charles area.