Updating The US LNG Export Terminals Graphic -- May 2, 2022

Updates

June 3, 2022: RBN Energy with huge update. 

May 20, 2022: Freeport LNG has requested a 26-month FERC extension to place its 5.1-million tpy Train 4 in service. New requeested deadline is August 1, 2028. Link here, though link may break over time.

May 5, 2022: Sempra, FID for fourth train at Cameron on track; decision to be made 2023.

May 3, 2022: EIA --  number 7 -- this should be driving the faux environmentalists nuts -- I'm not sure if the Biden administration knows that oil and natural gas are pretty closely related --

 Original Post

I saw the headline. Had no interest in reading the story. I knew what it was all about just from the headline. But several hours after seeing the headline I finally decided to check out the article by Julianne Geiger.

I'm glad I did. I didn't care about the actual story. What interested me was the "update" of the US LNG export terminal story that began in 2016. 

That story is absolutely fascinating. Prior to 2016, the US wasn't building LNG export terminals, it was building import terminals. But then things changed. I honestly don't remember the tipping point -- I assume it was the Permian and the Eagle Ford. They were producing so much natural gas -- on top of the fields/plays in Appalachia that the US no longer needed to worry about natural gas. Wow, what a turn of events. But I digress. 

[There is some irony here. At the time the US/FERC was questioning whether to approve these projects and the developers were deciding whether to make the final investment decision to go ahead with building them, little did they know what would transpire in 2022 -- Putin's War -- pure serendipity.]

[More irony: now that diesel if trending toward $6 / gallon, and gasoline is trending toward $5 / gallon, it's a shame that the Keystone XL was canceled. By itself, "we" might still be where "we" are today with very expensive gasoline, but "killing the Keystone" has become a metonym for Biden's efforts to curry favor with the "greens": "killing the Keystone" is a metonym for all the obstacles Washington (DC) is putting ii place to kill the North American oil sector: the killing the Keystone XL, banning new drilling on federal land, slow-rolling fracking on federal land, adding new environmental regulations for future pipelines, etc.]

Back to the linked article.

Soaring demand for U.S. LNG has now rebooted export projects that had previously languished, and the Biden administration has approved new export licenses for projects under development.

Last week, the Biden administration authorized more LNG shipments from two U.S. plants under development. The move came as Russia cut off gas to Poland and Bulgaria for refusal to pay in roubles.

One of those plants is Texas-based Golden Pass LNG, which is owned by Exxon and Qatar Petroleum and is expected to go online in 2025. The second is the Louisiana-based Magnolia LNG, owned by Glenfame Group LLC and expected to launch in 2027.

Another factor adding to U.S. LNG exports in the coming months will be the ramp-up launch, on April 29, of the Louisiana-based Calcasieu Pass export terminal, which is the seventh export terminal to begin production in the United States since 2016. This terminal can turn around 3.1 billion cubic feet per day, according to the EIA, with two shipping berths that can load up to 185,000 cubic meters.

Calcasieu shipped its first LNG on March 1st, and natural gas deliveries to the terminal have steadily increased since the beginning of the year. Three blocks are still awaiting approval at this plant, expected by year’s end.

So, there's the update. 

" ... the Louisiana-based Calcasieu Pass export terminal, which is the seventh export terminal to begin production in the United States since 2016."

Remember this graph? 

There they are, the seven terminals, several with multiple trains or phases. 

And, I never noticed it before, but this is where Ms Geiger got her data point, the seventh export terminal since 2016. Pretty cool.

So, now we have to update that graph -- to add the Golden Pass LNG (Texas) and the Magnolia LNG (LA) export terminals. RBN Energy has gone over the export terminals in much great detail, but seeing that graph again and correlating it with Ms Geiger's story sort of brings it all together for me.

The graph at the above link, updated: