![]() Venture Global’s delay has fed industry speculation that the company has delayed the commercial start-up to capture higher profits by selling cargoes on the spot market. Venture Global did not respond to Energy Intelligence email and phone requests for comment. “The only 'harm' that appears to motivate Venture Global’s opposition to Repsol’s participation in this proceeding is the transparency and accountability that would be made possible by Repsol’s participation in this proceeding during this post-authorization phase,” the Spanish company said. In its request to FERC, Repsol argued that it should have access to the filings as a long-term customer of the facility in order to protect its interests and properly assess whether the US exporter “is complying with the requirements of the 2019 authorization order and making accurate representations to the Commission and its staff regarding the status of the project."Īccording to Repsol’s filing, Venture Global claimed that granting the Spanish firm's request may result in “some unspecified harm, prejudice or burden." Repsol countered that providing access to privileged documents to a participant is standard FERC practice. ![]() Repsol previously expected to receive first commercial cargoes from the plant at the beginning of 2023, Energy Intelligence understands. Those cargoes amount to roughly 10.4 million tons of exports over a 15-month period, nearly the level of expected annual commercial exports.īut despite those high figures, Venture Global has not declared the commercial start-up of the plant, which would trigger the start of offtake agreements. The first commissioning cargo from the facility was lifted in February 2022, and since then, a total of 159 cargoes have been loaded from the plant, according to commodities analytics firm Kpler. The unprecedented situation - no LNG project developer has ever incurred such a delay - is looking likely to get uglier before it gets better, a source close to the matter suggests. The company’s two-phase, 20 million ton/yr Plaquemines LNG is already under construction. The dispute is sure to be closely watched given that Calcasieu Pass is the first of several Venture Global projects that are set to deliver 70 million tons/yr of eventual capacity. “The unprecedented circumstance of an LNG project conducting itself as commercially operational by exporting numerous cargoes over the course of a year, but not declaring commercial operation, is plainly cause for concern, particularly for a long-term customer like Repsol,” the company said in its rehearing request. The company has a 20-year supply agreement for 1 million tons/yr of LNG from the plant. Repsol requested the rehearing after its initial motion to obtain access to these “critical filings” was denied last month. Energy Intelligence understands that project commissioning usually takes three months or less. The Spanish firm, whose offtake contract kicks in when commercial operations are declared, has asked the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a rehearing over its previously denied motion to gain access to filings regarding the commissioning and construction of the 10 million ton per year plant.Ĭargoes have been loading from Calcasieu Pass since early last year, yet commercial operation remains elusive. ![]() Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG export plant on the US Gulf Coast has been in its commissioning phase since February of last year - about four times longer than the industry norm - and offtaker Repsol is leading the charge to find out why.
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