Venture Selects KBR for Plaquemines LNG

US LNG developer Venture Global said November 23 it had awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Phase 1 of its Plaquemines LNG project in Louisiana to engineering and construction firm KBR.

KBR will integrate 18 mid-scale liquefaction trains, each rated at 0.626mn mt/yr, in the 10mn mt/yr first phase of Plaquemines. Phase 2 would double the capacity of the terminal to 20mn mt/yr. The same technology is being used at Venture Global’s first Louisiana LNG project, now under construction at Calcasieu Pass, where Kiewit is the lead EPC contractor for that 18-train, 10mn mt/yr terminal.

“KBR has an exceptional record in the LNG industry, having designed and delivered approximately a third of the liquefaction capacity worldwide,” Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel said. “This contract with KBR will allow us to bring a second world-class, mechanically complete LNG production facility to the market, on our schedule and budget.”

Plaquemines LNG has received all regulatory approvals and has binding offtake agreements with Poland’s PGNiG and French utility EDF for a total of 3.5mn mt/yr from Phase 1. A final investment decision on the liquefaction terminal and its companion Gator Express pipeline project is not expected until financial close, which according to a timeline on the project’s website is anticipated in mid-2021.