A tanker full of liquefied natural gas (LNG) docked at Venture Global LNG's Plaquemines export plant in Louisiana, according to shipping data from LSEG on Friday, in what energy analysts said was a sign the plant could start up in test mode soon.
The vessel named Qogir came from Norway full of LNG, according to LSEG data and energy analysts.
LNG plants under construction, like Plaquemines, use super-cooled fuel to test and cool equipment in preparation for startup.
After Plaquemines started pulling in small amounts of natural gas from U.S. pipelines in late June, analysts have said the plant could start turning gas into small amounts of LNG in test mode in coming months.
Plaquemines took in small amounts of pipeline gas for several days in late June and then again in mid-July, and was on track to pull in the fuel for 25 days in a row on Friday, according to LSEG data.
As part of its testing process, Venture Global sought permission in early July from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to introduce gas to a gas turbine generator as part of its testing process. FERC regulates U.S. interstate gas pipelines and LNG terminals.
Officials at Venture Global were not immediately available for comment. The company has said building the two phases at Plaquemines would entail an investment of about $21 billion.
Analysts have said they expect Venture Global to complete work on the first 1.8-billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) phase of Plaquemines from 2024 to 2026 and the second 1.2-bcfd phase from 2025 to 2026.
The United States is already the world's biggest LNG exporter with seven export plants able to turn about 13.8 bcfd of gas into about 104.6 million tonnes a year (MTPA) of LNG. One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about five million U.S. homes for a day.
Analysts expect U.S. LNG export capacity will rise to around 17.0 bcfd of gas or 129.4 MTPA of LNG in mid-2025 as the first phase of Plaquemines and Cheniere Energy's expansion at its Corpus Christi, Texas plant start to enter service in 2024.
Venture Global has said Plaquemines' customers include units of ExxonMobil, Chevron, EnBW Energie Baden Wuerttemberg, New Fortress Energy, PETRONAS, China Gas Holdings, Excelerate Energy, Polish Oil and Gas, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec), China National Offshore Oil Corp, Shell and Electricite de France.
(Reuters - Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Susan Fenton)
