Venture Global’s Plaquemines terminal averaged more than 3 Bcf/d of feedgas last week for the first time, as the company makes more progress.
Venture Global received FERC authorization on August 12 to commission Block 16. It does not appear Block 15 has been commissioned yet but Blocks 1-14 are commissioning and producing LNG. The full terminal is 18 blocks, and most of it has been started.
The terminal is expected to produce LNG at full capacity by the end of the year. However, it will not officially be placed into service until mid-2026 for Phase 1 and 2027 for Phase 2. From a U.S. market perspective, the terminal will operate as if it were entirely online. Venture Global will continue to market all the LNG itself until the long-term contracts begin, which won’t be until the project officially gets placed into service. This is similar to the controversial approach Venture Global took with Calcasieu Pass’s extended commissioning. Calcasieu Pass officially began service in April of this year, despite operating at full capacity since September 2022.
However, Venture Global recently won its arbitration case with Shell plc over Calcasieu Pass’s lengthy commissioning process. Although there are other cases still pending, this was a victory for Venture Global and an indication that other cases might resolve in Venture Global’s favor. It’s also possible that Venture Global’s victory in the Calcasieu Pass case could suggest its phased commissioning strategy at Plaquemines will follow a similar pattern operationally. We’ll continue to monitor the U.S. LNG sector closely. For more in-depth insights, see our LNG Voyager Weekly Report.
