New liquefaction project for Louisiana

The governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, and Martin Houston, Chairman of Live Oak LNG, have announced plans for a new natural gas liquefaction and export project, to be developed in the Calcasieu waterway.

The mid-sized project, with an investment up to US$2 billion, is being designed for a plant capacity of up to 5 million tpy production, and will include two 130 000 m³ storage tanks, as well as port facilities with a jetty for LNG carriers.

Live Oak LNG

The proposed site measures approximately 350 acres and is situated within Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. Initial studies are underway and Live Oak LNG will begin the permitting process within the next few weeks. The anticipated start-up of the plant is in late 2019.

Live Oak LNG is a fully owned subsidiary of Parallax Energy, a new company that includes experts representing every aspect of the LNG chain. Live Oak LNG and Parallax Energy are led by Martin Houston, former COO and Executive Director of BG Group.

Energy infrastructure

Commenting on the proposal, Jindal said: “This investment by Live Oak LNG is a welcome addition to the wealth of major industrial projects in Southwest Louisiana that are capitalising on our state’s energy infrastructure and our outstanding, skilled workforce. The global demand for affordable, American-produced liquefied natural gas is on the rise, and Calcasieu Parish is ideally situated to serve that market with its deepwater ports and ready access to natural gas supplies.

“Louisiana’s top-ranked business climate is attracting more and more companies to make major investments here, including important energy projects like Live Oak LNG. Today, more people are working than ever before in Louisiana, and the increasing quality of those jobs reinforces our belief that there’s no better place in the world to live, work and raise a family than right here in Louisiana.”

Lake Charles experience

Houston added: “Having worked on the Lake Charles LNG import project, I know Louisiana is a great place to do business. We will be working hand in hand with the community and government officials to ensure the new Live Oak LNG project brings economic benefit, business opportunities and jobs to Calcasieu Parish. We greatly appreciate the incentives available, and the support of local officials who have already provided a wealth of information to get us started.

“In addition to having Louisiana’s support, we are well positioned as a company to succeed with this project. Our team has over 100 years of LNG experience, our project is well researched, we are fully funded through to final investment decision (FID), and we are supported by world class experts and suppliers.”

Jobs creation

Live Oak LNG has awarded Bechtel a contract for the pre-engineering design and Chart Industries has been selected for the process design work. Live Oak LNG estimates that there will be approximately 550 people working directly on the project, with up to 1000 jobs during the construction peak.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/04022015/louisiana-to-get-new-lng-export-terminal-175/