Florida LNG export project delayed five years due to supply chain issues

US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) expanded by five years the September 19, 2024 deadline for Texas-based Eagle LNG Partners to build and operate a small-scale LNG export facility near Jacksonville, Florida.

Eagle LNG Partners proposed to build and operate an LNG terminal and export facility on the north bank of the St. Johns of Jacksonville. The original FERC authorization had a September 19, 2024 deadline for the project to begin operations.

However, due to supply chain hurdles and higher costs, Eagle LNG Partners in July 2024 asked FERC to grant an extension of time, until September 19, 2029, to construct and operate the Jacksonville Project.

The initial FERC authorization and order required Eagle LNG to complete construction of the project and make it available for service within five years of the date of the order or by September 19, 2024.

In its extension request with FERC, Eagle LNG states that the Jacksonville project has been substantially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which began just six months after the order was issued.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has created an extremely challenging environment for negotiating and executing contracts. These impediments continued for some time after the effects of the pandemic began to subside in 2022,” the company told FERC.

Eagle LNG also said that inflation and supply chain issues caused by the pandemic have increased the total installed cost of the project.

Now the Commission has granted the extension, but the project’s deadline is falling by five years and there is still no final investment decision on it.

regulation failures have also recently affected larger LNG export projects.

Last month, a US appeals court ISSUED authorizing a hold on NextDecade Corporation’s Rio Grande LNG export project in Texas on the grounds that FERC should have issued a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) during its hold process.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

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