The extension allows the American natural gas company to complete the construction of the 27.6mtpa LNG facility by 18 April 2029
The US FERC has extended the construction deadline for Tellurian’s Driftwood LNG facility. (Credit: Tellurian Inc/Business Wire)
Tellurian has secured a three-year deadline extension from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the completion of construction of the Driftwood LNG facility on the US Gulf Coast.
The extension allows the American natural gas company to complete the construction of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project by 18 April 2029. Originally, the deadline to the company to wrap up the construction was 2026.
Constructed on a 1,200-acre site on the west bank of the Calcasieu River, south of Lake Charles in Louisiana, the Driftwood LNG facility will have a capacity of approximately 27.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
The LNG project is designed to have five plants and 20 trains along with three storage tanks and as many berths.
Tellurian requested for the extension in 2023 to ensure that the company had sufficient time to execute the construction of all five plants of the American LNG facility.
Tellurian CEO Octávio Simões said: “Tellurian thanks FERC for working with our team to ensure the safe construction of Driftwood LNG. FERC has been diligent in its oversight, having visited the site 19 times already, and provided careful examination of this extension request.
“We have invested over a billion dollars into Driftwood LNG’s development, we have our approval to export and all applicable construction permits, and we are eager to provide the world with liquefied natural gas exports.”
In September last year, Tellurian signed an agreement with Baker Hughes for the supply of eight main refrigerant compression packages for phase 1 of the Driftwood LNG project.
The agreement secured a delivery schedule for the eight LM6000PF+ gas turbines, main refrigerant compressors, and control units needed for phase 1. Once complete, phase one of the Driftwood project will have two LNG plants and 11mtpa of export capacity.
Tellurian aims to achieve initial LNG production at the facility in 2027.
The company also secured authorisation from the FERC for Line 200 and Line 300 of its proposed Driftwood natural gas transmission project in April 2023.