Venture Global LNG to install Calcasieu trains 7 & 8

3/3/2021

Venture Global LNG expects to install the 7th and 8th of 18 liquefaction trains at its Calcasieu Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana in the next few weeks, the company's chief executive said.

Speaking at CERAWeek by IHS Markit, CEO Michael Sabel said the company recently installed trains 5 and 6 at the plant.

Last week, sources said Venture Global put out a tender seeking LNG buyers that could send vessels to pick up commissioning or test cargoes from Calcasieu as soon as October.

The sources, however, said they still do not expect the first train at Calcasieu to produce LNG until December.

That, however, is way ahead of the autumn 2022 commissioning date Venture Global has posted on its website. LNG plants usually start producing test cargoes about three months before they officially enter service.

Sabel did not talk about the tender or the date the plant would start producing first LNG on CERAWeek's Innovation & the Future of LNG panel.

He did say that by choosing smaller, modular trains built in a factory and shipped to the site, the company saved time and money versus building gigantic trains on site like most other U.S. LNG facilities.

"Instead of 13,000 people working at our site for three or four years, we peaked at around 3,000 and expect to come off that peak next month and we were only at that peak for a short amount of time," Sabel said.

On climate change, Sabel and others at CERAWeek said gas used to displace coal-fired power plants was the best option governments can choose to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"If all the world did was invest in cheaper gas ... you would have the biggest, quickest impact on (reducing) global emissions," Sabel said.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Marguerita Choy)