By Arathy Somasekhar
HOUSTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) – ST LNG aims to reach a final investment decision on its $8.2 billion LNG export project by mid- to late 2027, the company’s president said on Thursday, a day after receiving a key US government approval.
The company’s first liquefied natural gas export facility, planned offshore of Matagorda, Texas, will include four liquefaction plants of 2.1 million metric tons per annum for a combined production capacity of 8.4 mtpa, representing about 8% of US capacity.
The project received a record of decision — a regulatory milestone — after undergoing the fastest deepwater port license review in more than two decades, according to the Transportation Department. President Donald Trump’s administration has promised to ease permitting and speed up energy infrastructure development.
Rockville, Maryland-based ST LNG will receive its license once it complies with all federal and state requirements.
ST LNG, which is privately owned, aims to approve the project once it has minimum customer commitments totalling 2 mtpa, CEO Sharad Tak told Reuters.
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Long-term sales and purchase agreements will allow the company to move forward with the first unit, with other liquefaction systems approved every six months, depending on additional customer commitments, President Alap Shah said. Commercial operations are expected to begin by mid-2030, Shah added.
While ST LNG has no long-term commitments from buyers, it is close to signing an integrated energy company in India as its first buyer, Tak said. It is also in talks with European and Asian companies for offtake agreements, he added.
ST LNG said it received approval from the US Department of Energy to export to countries with free trade agreements with the US and expects approval soon to export to countries that do not have such agreements.
Using floating storage units — older ships converted to store LNG — will be cheaper than building an onshore LNG tank, Shah said.
ST LNG aims to finance the project with debt and equity and has spoken with four to six banks, Tak said.
“The banks are very eager, and they are willing to move in the next three to four months,” Tak added.
Tak has built businesses spanning information technology, paper products, broadcasting, power generation and luxury hotels. ST LNG marks his first foray into LNG.
“The war in the Middle East certainly has people making sure that they have diversified suppliers and America seems to be a more stable supplier than any other country,” Tak said.
The US is the world’s largest LNG exporter with more than 100 mtpa of production capacity and close to another 100 mtpa under construction.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Rod Nickel)
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