Dallas pipeline operator Energy Transfer is asking federal regulators for a five-year extension to build the company’s proposed Lake Charles LNG export terminal, the Houston Chronicle reports.
Energy Transfer received a federal permit for the project in December 2015. Under the terms of that the permit, the 240-acre liquefied natural gas export terminal was supposed be operational by December 2020 but the project never got built.
In a letter last week, the newspaper reports, Energy Transfer cited complex international contract negotiations for the delay and asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend that deadline until December 2025.
In his letter, Langston explained that Energy Transfer is not expected to make a final investment decision on Lake Charles LNG until early 2020 but the project has taken some steps forward. Langston wrote that Energy Transfer has spent $300 million on the project so far and it expected to spend another $150 million before making a final investment decision.
Lake Charles LNG was originally developed as an import terminal, but that changed when the shale revolution resulted in record production natural gas production in the United States. Under its permit, the proposed export terminal is authorized to produce 16.45 million metric tons of LNG year.
