Underground Infrastructure - November 2023 - 13

that are creating demand growth may
arrive later than hoped, leaving pipeline
assets underutilized in the interim.
LNG Projects May Lag
The drive to increase U.S. LNG exports
gained sudden urgency last year when
Russia invaded Ukraine and the West
imposed sanctions on Russian pipeline
gas exports to Europe. Prior to
the February invasion, Refinitiv data
showed natural gas supplies to U.S.
LNG export plants had reached a record
13.3 Bcf/d.
Golden Pass LNG and Plaquemines
LNG Phase 1 are expected to come online
in the second half of 2024. " But after
that, we see nothing until maybe mid to
late 2026, " Ajay Bakshani, director of
analytics at East Daley Analytics, observed.
" Then, you have a lot of projects
that are expected to come online or that
are currently still going through contract
but haven't reached FID (final investment
decision) yet. "
Golden Pass, which began as an import
project in late 2003, received its first LNG
cargo in 2010. FID was made in 2019 to
build three 6 mtpa liquefaction trains.
The project is a joint venture formed by
affiliates of QatarEnergy (70 percent)
and ExxonMobil (30 percent).
There also have been expectations
that Tellurian's Driftwood LNG project
and Freeport LNG's Train 4 could
come online as soon as 2025, but East
Daley sees them taking longer.
Tellurian is still pursuing FID on its
project, and analysts such as Bakshani expect
that it and numerous other projects
will get built. In fact, projections call for
32 Bcf of total U.S. LNG export capacity
by 2029 compared with around 12 Bcf in
early 2023, lower than in early 2022 as
Freeport LNG gradually ramps up production
after its lengthy shutdown.
The LNG capacity additions include
New Fortress Energy's 2.8-mtpa
Louisiana FLNG, expected for 2024
completion; the construction of a third
4.5-mtpa train at Cheniere's Corpus
Christi LNG, expected by 2025; the
2026 completion of Delfin Midstream's
13.3 mtpa deepwater floating LNG
(FLNG) port off the Louisiana coast;
and Commonwealth LNG's proposed
8.4-mtpa liquefaction and export facility
near Cameron, Louisiana.
Seven more projects are slated for
completion by late 2027, including
Phase 2 of Venture Global's approved
20-mtpa Plaquemines LNG and planned
20-mtpa nameplate capacity CP2 LNG
facility; Energy Transfer's Lake Charles
Trains 1-3, with a capacity 5.5 mtpa
each; NextDecade's planned 27-mtpa
Rio Grande Trains 1 and 2; two trains
at Port Arthur LNG capable of producUndergroundInfrastructure.com
| NOVEMBER 2023 13
http://www.UndergroundInfrastructure.com
Underground Infrastructure - November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Infrastructure - November 2023
