By Curtis Williams
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Venture Global LNG could finish power generator repairs by the end of February, a federal inspection report said on Wednesday, potentially clearing the way for the almost three-year commissioning of the Calcasieu Pass LNG plant to reach completion.
Venture Global is the most valuable U.S. LNG company following its initial public offering on Thursday. It has blamed its inability to deliver cargoes from Calcasieu Pass to its long-term customers on equipment failures and the unreliability of its power generators.
The delays led to contract arbitration cases brought by some of the world’s top oil and gas producers, including BP, Shell, Edison, Orlen and Repsol.
A “fifth and final” generator project was under way “and completion is expected by February 2025,” inspectors from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said on Wednesday in a regulatory filing.
The inspection was conducted one week ago and found Venture Global had made so much progress that a temporary fix suggested by FERC was no longer necessary, the inspection report said.
Venture Global was not immediately available for comment.
Shell said it was waiting for its cargoes to be delivered.
“For almost two years we’ve been told by Venture Global that deliveries were forthcoming. It’s never happened. They have proven to be an unreliable supplier and, until we receive our contracted cargoes, we will continue to view them that way,” a Shell spokesperson told Reuters.
A Repsol spokesperson said it had no further information on timing.
Venture Global has said it expects to move from commissioning to commercial operations at Clacasieu Pass by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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