It’s something to behold, via Bloomie:
Tellurian Inc.’s proposed $28 billion Driftwood terminal in Louisiana and Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur LNG project in Texas were cleared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a 3-1 vote in Washington, with Democratic Commissioner Richard Glick dissenting.
The approvals followed a breakthrough at the commission, which had been divided 2-2 along partisan lines over how much climate change should be factored into pipeline and LNG projects. That resulted in Venture Global LNG Inc. getting the go-ahead for its $5 billion Calcasieu Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana in February.
Tellurian and Sempra will face fierce competition as global gas supplies soar, however. New terminals in Australia, Russia and Qatar are sending cargoes across the world, and three more U.S. projects may start up by the end of the year, putting the nation on course to challenge Qatar as the second-largest exporter. LNG prices have plunged, calling into question the economics of new plants.
That’s…wait for it…43mtpa in new capacity approved for export, almost three Gorgons!
The US currently has 40mtpa of operating export capacity and another 50mtpa under construction.
Following the new approvals, there is another 105mpta in projects moving towards final investment decision as we speak. Plus another 123mtpa in pending export applications.
What we are looking at here is the answer to Cold War 2.0.
