Venture Global LNG, which late last year announced plans for a $4.25 billion liquefaction processing complex and liquefied natural gas export terminal in Cameron Parish, announced this morning it has raised $125 million in equity financing for the project.
The equity investors consist of U.S. institutional investors who collectively manage assets over $130 billion, Venture Global says.
“With these private placements, we are closer to meeting our goals of exporting low-cost, American LNG to global markets,” Venture Global CEO William M. Wicker says in a news release. “The new capital positions us well for continued expansion of our global management team, completion of our engineering and design work, execution of our (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) and other regulatory activities, further procurement efforts and securing long-term sales agreements.”
As announced in mid December, Venture Global plans to build the LNG plant on a 203-acre site on the Calcasieu Ship Channel just outside Lake Charles, which provides access to the Gulf of Mexico.
Construction on the complex is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2016, with operations expected to begin in 2019. Louisiana Economic Development estimates construction of the complex will create 1,500 jobs, and that the plant itself will yield 100 new direct jobs and 326 new indirect jobs.
The company is expected to take advantage of the state’s Louisiana Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs. The quality jobs program provides a cash rebate of up to 6% of a company’s payroll for up to a decade, while the industrial exemption program offers a full abatement of local property taxes on new capital investments for up to 10 years as well.
With a planned export capacity of 10 million metric tons when fully developed, the complex will accommodate ocean-going vessels with a carrying capacity of up to 185,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas.
