U.S. FERC delays decision on LNG import project
U.S. energy regulators delayed the date they expect to make a decision on Marathon Petroleum Corp’s plan to convert the Kenai liquefied natural gas export plant in Alaska into an import terminal to July 23, 2020.
In June 2019, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it planned to make that decision by March 12, 2020.
In a filing on Thursday, FERC said it now planned to issue an environmental assessment on the project on April 24, 2020. The agency said it has to make an authorization decision within 90 days of issuing the environmental assessment.
FERC said it revised the schedule for the environmental assessment because the company was not able to provide certain information FERC staff needed for the assessment until January 2020.
Marathon’s Trans-Foreland Pipeline Co LLC unit asked FERC in March for permission to modify the existing Kenai LNG export facility so it could receive a cargo of LNG that would produce natural gas to be used at the company’s Kenai refinery located next to the LNG facility.
Trans-Foreland asked FERC in May for a decision on its application by Aug. 31, 2019 so the project could be modified and receive an LNG cargo by August 2020.
Officials at Marathon were not immediately available for comment.
The Kenai LNG export plant entered service in 1969. The plant was the only LNG export facility in North America for 47 years until Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana entered service in February 2016. Nearly all of the LNG from Kenai went to Japan.
ConocoPhillips, the operator of Kenai, mothballed the facility in 2015 before selling it to a unit of Andeavor in February 2018.
Marathon Petroleum completed its purchase of Andeavor in October 2018.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
- McDermott awarded Rovuma LNG Phase 1 FEED contract in Mozambique
- Wood leads industry project to accelerate CCUS with guidelines for CO2 specifications
- ExxonMobil selects Chart Industries’ IPSMR® liquefaction technology for Mozambique LNG project
- Gasum selects Wärtsilä for another bio-LNG project in Sweden
- Vaisala seeks to remove greenwashing from carbon capture with new measurement solution
Comments