A Texas facility can export liquefied natural gas it’s producing during its commissioning phase, federal regulators said Wednesday.
In a short letter, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Golden Pass’s request to start exporting the superchilled gas from the terminal in southeastern Texas. FERC’s green light came only two days after Golden Pass, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil, announced the project had achieved first production of LNG at the facility.
The project represents a major new source of LNG coming online as U.S.-Israel war with Iran trudges into its fifth week. While about 20 percent of global LNG trade moved through the Strait of Hormuz, traffic through the chokepoint has slowed to a trickle as a result of the conflict and Qatar announced in early March it had suspended LNG production.
The Golden Pass facility is designed to export around 18 million metric tons of LNG annually from Sabine Pass, about 100 miles east of downtown Houston.
