The United States Department of Energy (DoE) has allowed Sempra Energy to export 13.5 Mt/year of LNG from its Port Arthur LNG export project in Jefferson County (Texas) to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the United States. The US DoE has also allowed Tellurian to export up to 3.88 bcf/d (30 Mt/year) of LNG from its 27.6 Mt/year Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana. Both projects had received FERC authorisations to site, construct and operate LNG production and export projects in April 2019.
The US$27.5bn Driftwood LNG project is expected to include 20 liquefaction units, each producing 1.38 Mt/year, along with three 235,000 m3 storage tanks and three berths for the accommodation of the LNG ships. Tellurian's current partners in the project are Total, GE Electric and Bechtel. The final investment decision (FID) is expected later in 2019. Construction could start at the end of 2019 and operations could start in 2023, with full operations in 2026.
The Port Arthur LNG project is developed by Sempra Energy and will include two 5.5 Mt/year trains for a total capacity of 11 Mt/year. Sempra Energy selected Bechtel as the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contractor for the project in 2018. FID is expected in the first quarter of 2020 and the project could start in 2023.