US Congressmen Urge Driftwood LNG Approval
Republican US Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana and other members of that state’s congressional delegation on April 24 sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) chair Kevin McIntyre urging approval of Tellurian’s Driftwood LNG terminal and pipeline project south of Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Driftwood LNG is a 27.6mn metric tons/year (mt/yr) export terminal proposed for the west bank of the Calcasieu River, while the Driftwood Pipeline would move 4bn ft3/day of gas some 154 km to the terminal from various interconnections with interstate gas pipelines.
The projects are slated to start construction in 2019, with the first liquefaction trains set to be operating in 2023 and the terminal fully-operational by 2025.
Tellurian began Ferc’s pre-filing process in 2016 and filed its formal application in April 2017. Earlier this year, the commission published a scheduling notice for the environment review of the project in the Federal Register (FR), setting a schedule of June 2018 for a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) and a final EIS by October 12, 2018.
“It is imperative that the permits for these projects are completed by the issuance date stated in the FR,” Higgins wrote in his letter, which was signed by two Louisiana senators and four other Louisiana congressmen.
The two projects represent a combined investment in the Louisiana economy of more than $16.5bn, the letter continued, providing “thousands of highly-skilled construction jobs over a period of six years and ongoing economic opportunities for the state and its citizens” once the facility is operating.
“As such, considering the benefits to the Louisiana economy, the uncontested nature of the application, and the overwhelming local and state support for the project, we respectfully request that Ferc review the application as expeditiously as possible to ensure adherence to the timeline outlined in the scheduling notice, especially with respect to the issuance of the draft EIS in June 2018,” the letter concluded.
Tellurian has said it expects to take FID on Driftwood in the first half next year and is offering equity interests in the integrated project for $1,500/metric ton in exchange for LNG at cost, although it has not said how many equity investments have been made. The integrated project includes some 1.4 trillion ft3 of natural gas reserves, $7bn of pipeline infrastructure and the liquefaction terminal.