08 January 2014 – Houston-based start-up Texas LNG has filed an application to the US Department of Energy seeking to export up to 2 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas to free trade agreement countries and non-FTA markets.
This is a major milestone for the company after it executed an exclusive lease option agreement in December to secure land in the Port of Brownsville in Texas.
Texas LNG will use a toll processing model under which customers will pay Texas LNG a fee for converting natural gas into LNG.
The concept for the project involves a liquefaction barge to be fabricated offsite, before it is permanently grounded, so it is not a floating vessel.
Texas LNG chief executive Vivek Chandra said he expected approval from the DOE in the first four months of the year.
“In the meantime, we are progressing our engineering efforts and discussions with investors and LNG buyers,” he said.
“The Port of Brownsville’s strategic geographic location as one of the closest ports to the Panama Canal will facilitate our efforts to source feed gas from South Texas gas fields such as the Eagle Ford, where large volumes of gas are currently flared and vented, thereby providing both a positive environmental and economic benefit to the region.”
First LNG exports are being targeted for early 2018.
*Bianca Bartucciotto, Upstreamonline
