Energy Transfer and BG Group to build LNG export facility on brownsite owned by Energy Transfer. Final go ahead to be given in 2016.

 by Milos Bezanov

Construction approval for the Lake Charles LNG facility has been granted by The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on December 17^th, according to a recent press release.

The project, which is shared between Energy Transfer and BG Group, will be operational in four years, with Energy Transfer delivering pipeline transportation and BG Group responsible for selecting the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

Once completed, the facility is expected to deliver 2billion cubic feet of natural gas a day, totalling 15 billion tonnes a year, making it potentially one of the largest facilities in the U.S.

(Environmentally?) Friendly Opportunity

Lake Charles will also make use of available cutting edge, state of the art technology to deliver efficient energy and increased economic opportunity at low environmental cost

“We’re excited about our role in the economic expansion of Southwest Louisiana. Lake Charles LNG has the potential to create several thousand jobs during construction and if fully operational could result in approximately 250 long-term operational positions – sustainable jobs for current and future generations.” explains Jason Klein, General Manager for BP Group’s America Asset

However, operators are also keen to avoid adverse impact on local communities, “[we want]…to be a good neighbour in Lake Charles and…[to that extent]…we’ll be working in a collaborative manner with local communities to minimize the impacts from construction”

The Lake Charles LNG project also has secured conditional authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy, although hurdles still remain before 2016