The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted Venture Global approval to increase the processing and export capacity of its Plaquemines LNG project in Louisiana.
With this approval, the capacity of Plaquemines LNG will rise from the previously planned 24 million metric tons per year to 27.2 million metric tons.
The facility shipped its first commissioning cargo in December, sending LNG to Germany. However, the plant will remain in the commissioning phase for at least another year, meaning long-term customers will begin receiving cargoes in 2026 and 2027.
While FERC recognized that greenhouse gas emissions from the project would increase, it determined the levels would remain acceptable. “We acknowledge that the project will increase the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change, but we cannot classify these emissions as significant or insignificant,” FERC said in a statement to Reuters.
The Trump administration had pushed for more LNG exports, with President Donald Trump lifting the pause on new project permits that had been imposed by the Biden administration.
Last month, Venture Global went public, raising $1.75 billion and achieving a valuation of $60 billion.
Though a newcomer to the LNG market, Venture Global has attracted controversy for its practice of selling all its LNG on the spot market rather than honoring long-term contracts. The company has defended this by saying its first LNG plant, Calcasieu Pass, was not fully completed, which allowed it to sell on the spot market without fulfilling its long-term contract obligations.
Earlier this week, Venture Global announced it had informed its long-term customers that commercial operations at Calcasieu Pass will begin on April 15, 2025.
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