The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has extended with five years the September 19, 2024 deadline for Texas-based firm Eagle LNG Partners to build and put into operation a small-scale LNG export facility near Jacksonville, Florida.
Eagle LNG Partners has proposed to build and operate an LNG terminal and export facility on the north bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville. The original FERC authorization had a deadline of September 19, 2024 for the project to begin operations.
However, due to supply chain hurdles and higher costs, Eagle LNG Partners in July 2024 asked the FERC to grant an extension of time, until September 19, 2029, to construct and place into service its Jacksonville Project.
The original 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 request for extension with the FERC, Eagle LNG states that the Jacksonville project has been impacted substantially by the COVID-19 pandemic, which began only six months after the issuance of the order.
"The COVID-19 pandemic created an extremely challenging environment for the negotiation and execution of contracts. Those impediments continued for some time after the effects of the pandemic had begun to subside in 2022," the company told FERC.
Eagle LNG also said that inflation and supply chain issues brought on by the pandemic have increased the total installed cost of the project.
Now the Commission has granted the extension, but the project timeline is slipping by five years and there isn't a final investment decision on it yet.
Regulatory setbacks have recently plagued larger LNG export projects, too.
Last month, a U.S. appeals court vacated the remand authorization of NextDecade Corporation's Rio Grande LNG export project in Texas on the grounds that the FERC should have issued a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) during its remand process.
By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com
Tom majored in International Business at Amsterdam’s Higher School of Economics, he is Oilprice.com's Head of Operations More