Venture Global says it has produced the first LNG at its Plaquemines plant.
Venture Global LNG produced its first LNG (liquefied natural gases) on Friday at its Plaquemines facility in Louisiana.
The first U.S. plant to produce super-chilled natural gas in two years, Cheniere Energy Corpus Christi's midscale expansion project has been beaten to the market.
Venture Global said that it had built two of its fastest greenfield LNG plants to go from financial approval to first LNG production.
Plaquemines, when completed, will be the largest LNG plant in the world. It will also help the United States remain the world's leading exporter of super-chilled fuel.
Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel said that Venture Global was prepared to invest up to $50 billion between current and planned energy projects.
Venture Global will retain all revenues from shipments during the extended period of commissioning, which begins with Friday's production.
A July offering of senior notes revealed that some long-term customers of the Louisiana facility could wait as much as two years for their cargoes, under the schedule of commissioning, which extends until 2026 in the initial phase and 2027 in the subsequent phase.
The company said on Friday that its strategy is to continue building the plant while producing LNG.
BP, Shell, Edison, Repsol and Orlen have all sent arbitration disputes over similar waits at Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass plant.
Separate financial documents indicate that Venture Global could lose the lawsuits and suffer billions in damages. Reporting by Curtis Williams, Houston; editing by Tom Hogue
(source: Reuters)
