So just to summarize the US LNG export facilities:
Kenai: Built as an import/export facility, but it has almost no capacity for liquefaction and hasn't been used for export in almost a decade
Sabine Pass: A regasification facility that opened in 2008. It was later converted to a bidirectional facility to allow export.
Cove Point: A regasification facility that opened in 1972. It was later converted to a bidirectional facility to allow export.
Hackberry: A regasification facility that opened in 2009. It was later converted to a bidirectional facility to allow export.
Elba Island: A regasification facility that opened in 1978, closed in 1980, and then reopened in 2001. It was later converted to a bidirectional facility to allow export.
Freeport: A regasification facility that opened in 1978. It was later converted to a bidirectional facility to allow export.
Corpus Christi: Originally permitted and planned as an import facility, but as the market changed they revised the project to allow for export capabilities as well. It is the only currently operating export facility that wasn't converted from an existing LNG facility. Though this project did have several things in its favor, namely that it had already gone through the planning and permitting process as an import facility. It also only required a ~35km pipeline for gas supply that was able to follow the path of an existing pipeline.
So there's a bit of a theme there. Easy pipeline access and virtually all of their terminals were conversions of existing LNG facilities. Both those things make investing far more attractive and significantly speed up the process. And any comparisons to Qatar are kind of pointless. The entire country is only about 10x the size of Calgary and they use what is essentially slave labor for many of their projects.
|