Two major US LNG projects have received positive final investment decisions in the past two weeks, as Reuters and other sources report. Power utility Sempra Energy’s subsidiary Sempra Infrastructure Partners, has given the green light to the first phase of its Port Arthur natural gas project in Texas, with investment firm KKR & Co to take a 25-49% stake in the venture, which has a US$13 billion price tag. Phase 1 is to include two natural gas liquefaction trains, along with two LNG storage tanks and associated facilities, with a nominal capacity of 13 million tonnes per annum – the long-term contractable capacity. Of this amount,10.5 Mtpa is already subscribed to by customers such as ConocoPhillips, RWE Supply and Trading, PKN ORLEN S.A., INEOS and ENGIE S.A.

The second major final investment decision was made on Phase 2 of Venture Global LNG’s Plaquemines LNG plant in Louisiana, after the company secured US$7.8 billion in financing. The first phase received a positive investment decision in May last year. Phase 1 is expected to come online in 2024, and the second in 2025. In total, Plaquemines LNG will have a capacity of 20 million tonnes of LNG per annum, and the total project cost will be around US$21 billion. Customers include ExxonMobi, Chevron, Energie Baden Wuerttemberg, New Fortress Energy, Petronas, China Gas Holdings and Excelerate Energy.

The go-aheads for the two projects reflect strong demand for US LNG following the turn away from Russian natural gas by Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the elevated prices for methane.