International:
Cameron LNG celebrates nearing completion of export facility
A newly commissioned tanker was loading the latest cargo of liquefied natural gas destined for Japan at Cameron LNG Thursday as the company and its five investment partners dedicated the facility. The joint venture expects to soon have more to commemorate.
First developed by parent company Sempra LNG as an import facility on the northwestern edge of the Calcasieu Channel in Hackberry, Louisiana, the company has been working since 2010 to turn its position on the Gulf Coast into an export giant supplying foreign markets with a growing abundance of shale gas from the Permian Basin.
The first liquefaction train at Cameron LNG began production in May and the first shipment of gas was launched in August, but the other two trains in the company’s $10 billion Phase I project aren’t far behind.
Dan Callens, COO of Cameron LNG, said Train 2 was more than 90% completed and Train 3 was 86% finished, both nearing the start-up phase of construction.
In the Thursday dedication ceremony, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called the facility that created 230 jobs in his state an “engineering marvel” and called on investment partners to commit to a proposal for two additional trains.
“Liquefied natural gas will increasingly become one of the most important commodities to fuel our power generation globally and to fuel our economies,” Edwards said. “It is also incredibly important in our overall effort to be good stewards of our environment.”
The Department of Energy granted the facility a permit in 2016 to possibly add two additional trains and expand exports to almost 15 million tons — or 2.1 billion cubic feet — of liquid natural gas per year.
Cameron LNG is a group investment project between majority-owner Sempra LNG, Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi Corp., Total and NYK Line. Engineering and construction were awarded to a joint venture between McDermott and Chiyoda, which are also working on LNG facilities in Freeport and Port Arthur with the addition of Zachary Group.
Cameron LNG has 20-year tolling agreements with Total, Mitsubishi and Mitsui for the $5 billion worth of liquid natural gas and $50 million of liquid natural gas products expected each year. The company predicts a total trade balance of more than $5 billion a year.
Sempra LNG and its investment partners have similar plans to develop a liquefaction and export facility in Port Arthur and signed a 20-year agreement with Saudi Aramco in May for natural gas.
For the Cameron project, Mitsui commissioned eight top-of-the line ships capable of carrying as much as 70,000 tons of gas per shipment. The vessel Marvel Crane was the first to make the voyage in August, and its sister ship Marvel Heron was being loaded at the facility on Thursday.
Motoyasu Nozaki, managing officer and COO of Mitsui’s global energy unit, called Cameron LNG one of the company’s most important investments worldwide due to its ability to make Mitsui’s portfolio far more diverse and cost-competitive.
“The energy market is under fierce competition and diversification is a key to winning in the market,” Nozaki said. “That’s the reason why we decided to invest here. We would like to complete these three trains as quickly as possible to establish a safe and steady supply.”
Mitsui will sell its share of natural gas largely for energy production, use by municipal utilities and for industrial use.
Japan imports almost 95% of its energy resources from locations across the globe. While it experiences a vast change in its energy market and the country’s parliament presses for a reduction of greenhouse gases, natural gas has become one of its key fuels.
Nozaki said Japan’s energy-mix has been “unstable” after the 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami that led to a nationwide decline in nuclear power as the country dealt with the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Shinsuke Sugiyama, Japanese ambassador to the United States, said the Cameron LNG project represented a new promise of energy stability and national defense for his country.
“This year marks — I’m told — the 50th anniversary of Japan’s first LNG import, which came from Alaska,” Sugiyama said. “The rich energy resource of our ally, the Unites States of America … gives us great peace of mind.”
President Donald Trump visited the plant in May, his third trip to Louisiana since taking office and seventh since starting his campaign in 2015. He
addressed workers and supporters with an hour-long speech. The company also used the occasion has a chance to announce the start-up of production.
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced his attendance at the Thursday event earlier in the month, but he was not present for the dedication. He has planned to resign at the end of the year after inquiries into his role in pushing Trump to call President Volodymyr Zelenskiy about investigating Hunter Biden.