HOUSTON (Reuters) -Venture Global has asked federal regulators for permission to introduce natural gas by Thursday into the final block of its Plaquemines LNG plant, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. If the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission grants the permission, Venture Global will soon be producing LNG from its entire Plaquemines plant, more than a year ahead of when it is expected to provide its first set of long term customers with their contracted amounts of gas. Completion of the Plaquemines export facility in Louisiana will bring it to its full capacity of 27.2 million metric tons per annum (mtpa).
In September, Plaquemines, the second largest plant in the country, was responsible for more than 17% of total U.S. exports, according to financial firm LSEG. Venture Global, the second largest LNG exporter in the U.S., has aimed to quickly construct and ramp up production at its LNG plants and make money up front by selling LNG produced in the commissioning phase on the spot market at higher liquefaction fees than it can get from its long-term customers.
The company has been producing at Plaquemines and selling it on the spot market since December 2024.
Venture Global has been taken before courts of arbitration by some of its long-term customers of its first LNG plant, Calcasieu Pass, also in Louisiana, over the length of time they took to receive their LNG.
In the case of Calcasieu Pass, Venture Global said it could not provide them with the gas in the agreed timeframe because of a faulty electric system at the plant, while the customers that included the likes of BP and Shell accused the Arlington-based company of profiting by selling the gas on the spot market rather than to them for lower contracted prices.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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