Main Pass Energy Hub (MPEH) has filed an application with the US Department of Energy (DOE) for a 30-year authorisation to export up to 24 Mt/year (32.4 bcm/year) of LNG to FTA countries (Free Trade Agreement). MPEH had initially filed an application, approved by the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), in January 2007 for an offshore regasification barge. This project, as many import terminal projects, was shelved.
The new liquefaction project will consist of six floating liquefaction storage vessels (FLSO), each with a liquefaction capacity of 4 Mt/year and a storage capacity of 200,000 m3. Natural gas would be sourced from existing and new facilities that the Group intends to build and operate, off the coasts of Louisiana, and the LNG terminal would be linked through pipelines to the national gas grid. It could thus liquefy natural gas from the Gulf Coast producing regions, including recent discoveries of shale gas reserves.