Two new pipelines to feed Louisiana Coast LNG export terminals approved by FERC
Energize Weekly, June 1, 2022
Two natural gas pipeline projects to feed the growing liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities on the Louisiana Gulf Coast were recently approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The Evangeline Pass Expansion Project got a green light from the commission. It will add 1.1 billion cubic feet a day (Bcf/d) of capacity through 13.1 miles of new pipeline and two new compressor stations to service the planned Plaquemines LNG Project, 20 miles south of New Orleans.
The Albert Xpress Project through upgrades to existing infrastructure will boost the capacity of TC Energy’s Great Lakes Gas Transmission system and the ANR Pipeline by 160 million cubic feet a day, as it links gas production from Canada to the Gulf Coast. A new compressor station will also be added in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana.
“The proposed Albert Xpress (AXP) project is a market-driven response to rising demand for natural gas on the U.S. Gulf Coast and beyond,” Calgary, Alberta-based TC Energy said in a statement.
The U.S. has posted seven consecutive years of LNG export growth through 2021 and is slated to become the world’s largest LNG exporter in 2022 with 14 Bcf/d in shipments, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
There are six domestic export terminals, four on the Gulf Coast (two in Texas and two in Louisiana), one in Maryland and one in Georgia. There are 14 projects with federal permits that have yet to be built. Two new liquefaction units are coming online on the Louisiana Gulf Coast this year, including Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal.
Australia and Qatar have been the top two LNG exporters with the U.S. third, but according to Kpler LNG Service, the U.S. has already passed Qatar.
“We project global demand for natural gas will continue to be high, making it more economical to build additional LNG export facilities in the United States,” the EIA said. “These LNG capacity expansions, coupled with increasing demand for natural gas abroad, result in an increased forecast of LNG exports to 5.86 trillion cubic feet by 2033 … up 65 percent from current levels.”
In 2023, the $8.5 billion Plaquemines LNG terminal, another Venture Global LNG project, is slated to begin operations served by the Evangeline Pass Project and the Gator Express pipeline.
Another significant natural gas pipeline addition completed in the first quarter of 2022, is the North Bakken Expansion Project, a 62-mile extension of the Williston Basin Interstate (WBI) pipeline system, providing 250 million cubic feet a day of takeaway capacity from the Williston Basin’s Bakken formation.
The lack of pipeline capacity led to extensive flaring at wellheads in the basin – making North Dakota second to only Texas in vented and flared gas in 2019. North Dakota accounted for 31 percent of the flared gas in the country.
By the end of 2021, the region was flaring just 6 percent of its gas compared with 19 percent in 2019.
The North Bakken Expansion project will help deliver natural gas to the Midwest. Last summer, the WBI system carried 1.07 Bcf/d to other interconnecting pipelines, primarily the Northern Border Pipeline, which runs from Canada to the Chicago area.
