Today, Venture Global announced the commercial operation date for its inaugural LNG export project – Calcasieu Pass – and the commencement of the sale of low-cost, U.S. LNG to the project’s long-term customers. Calcasieu Pass has reached this milestone in just 68 months from the final investment decision on the project, making it among the fastest greenfield LNG projects completed. The project’s multi-billion-dollar contracts will have a significant positive impact on the US balance of trade with several European allies.
Due to its innovative, first-of-its kind configuration consisting of many mid-scale, modular liquefaction trains and process facilities that are delivered and installed sequentially, as well as Venture Global’s owner-led approach to construction, the project was able to overcome significant unforeseen challenges, including a global pandemic, two hurricanes, and a force majeure event that arose due to major manufacturing issues with the facility’s power island. Having completed a multi-year rectification and remediation of key components of the facility that underpin the redundancy features inherent in the project’s design, Calcasieu Pass is now ready to operate safely and reliably.
“I am incredibly proud of our team who have worked relentlessly and diligently to successfully construct and commission our first LNG project,” said Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel. “We are excited to reach this milestone and are grateful for our regulators and supply chain partners who have worked with our team to reach commercial operations as efficiently and safely as possible.”
Notwithstanding the construction progress that we have achieved, the Calcasieu Pass project has maintained an exemplary safety record, outperforming the industry average Total Recordable Incident Rate, which represents US Bureau of Labor Statistics Heavy Construction Industry recordable incidents per one hundred workers per year, by a considerable margin.
The long-term sales and purchase agreements at Calcasieu Pass are among the most attractive price points for customers in the world, with average liquefaction fees under $2/mmbtu. Its long-term customers will benefit from low-cost North American LNG for the full duration of their 20-year contracts.
