Venture Global LNG announced the commencement of commercial operations at its Calcasieu Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Louisiana on April 15. This landmark achievement, reached just 68 months after the final investment decision, positions Calcasieu Pass as one of the fastest greenfield LNG projects to come online globally.

The rapid completion of the Calcasieu Pass project is attributed to its innovative design, featuring a unique configuration of numerous mid-scale, modular liquefaction trains and process facilities. This modular approach allowed for sequential delivery and installation, streamlining the construction process. Furthermore, Venture Global's owner-led approach to construction played a crucial role in navigating and overcoming substantial unforeseen challenges encountered during the project's development.

These challenges included the global COVID-19 pandemic, two significant hurricanes, and a force majeure event stemming from major manufacturing issues with the facility's power island. Despite these hurdles, Venture Global successfully executed a multi-year rectification and remediation program for critical facility components, ensuring the robust redundancy features inherent in the project's design are now fully operational. This dedication to overcoming adversity underscores the company's commitment to safe and reliable long-term operations.

"I am incredibly proud of our team who have worked relentlessly and diligently to successfully construct and commission our first LNG project," said Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel. "We are excited to reach this milestone and are grateful for our regulators and supply chain partners who have worked with our team to reach commercial operations as efficiently and safely as possible."

Notably, the Calcasieu Pass project has maintained an exemplary safety record throughout its construction, consistently outperforming the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Heavy Construction Industry average for Total Recordable Incident Rate by a significant margin. This achievement highlights Venture Global's unwavering commitment to safety alongside its drive for efficient project execution.

The long-term sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) associated with the Calcasieu Pass project offer some of the most competitive liquefaction fees globally, averaging under $2 per million British thermal units (mmbtu). This cost advantage will enable the project's long-term customers to secure low-cost North American LNG for the entirety of their 20-year contracts, providing energy security and affordability.

Calcasieu Pass commenced initial LNG production in January 2022 and has now transitioned to full commercial operations, signifying its readiness to reliably supply LNG to its contracted customers. This achievement marks a significant step for Venture Global as it continues to expand its footprint in the global LNG market.