Commonwealth LNG is asking federal regulators to reject environmental groups’ objections to its proposal to build an LNG export terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast near Cameron, S&P Global Platts reports.
Environmental groups including the Port Arthur Community Action Group, the Sierra Club and others have renewed their efforts to halt the construction of new liquefied natural gas export facilities. In early August, several of those groups also petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to halt development of the Commonwealth LNG terminal, which had proposed to enlarge its tanks.
Commonwealth LNG is an 8.4 mtpa LNG liquefaction and export facility located on the west bank of the Calcasieu Ship Channel at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, Louisiana. The facility will comprise six 50,000 M3 modular storage tanks and will be able to accommodate vessels up to 216,000 M3. Gas will be supplied via a 3.0-mile pipeline interconnected to two major pipeline systems with significant excess transportation capacity.
As it seeks commercial support for its project and a permit certificate authorizing it to build, S&P Global Platts reports, Commonwealth is pushing back on environmentalists. In a response filed Aug. 18 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Commonwealth LNG argued that the objections were more about the company’s original application two years ago and, therefore, should be rejected for being untimely. The company argues it has already sufficiently addressed the technical merits and environmental compatibility of the overall project.
Commonwealth anticipates a final investment decision in late 2022 and its first LNG shipment in 2025.
