Texas LNG Brownsville LLC has been granted free trade agreement (FTA) export authorization for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal to be sited at the Port of Brownsville, TX.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said Texas LNG may export 204.4 Bcf per year of LNG for a 25-year term from the planned tolling facility. A separate authorization to export to non-FTA countries has been sought and is pending. The terminal is one of several proposed for the Port of Brownsville (see Daily GPI, July 24; March 9).

Texas LNG told regulators that there’s plenty of gas available to liquefy and export from the region and beyond.

“Texas LNG anticipates that the sources of natural gas will include supplies from various producing regions, including conventional gas and recent shale gas discoveries in the Rocky Mountain, Midcontinent and Permian regions,” DOE said [15-62-LNG]. “Texas LNG asserts that shale plays including the Haynesville, Eagle Ford, Barnett, Floyd-Neal/Conasauga shale plays are estimated to contain 553 Tcf of recoverable natural gas.”

The terminal would receive gas for export via a 150-mile intrastate pipeline that would connect the terminal, the city of Brownsville and potential gas-fired power plants and other industrial projects in the area. The pipeline would likely originate at the Agua Dulce Hub near Corpus Christi, TX.

The countries with which the United States has an FTA requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas are Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Republic of Korea and Singapore.

Texas LNG’s parent company, Texas LNG LLC, originally was wholly owned by its members Vivek Chandra and Langtry Meyer. The ownership now includes Michael Maloney and Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd. of Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd. owns less than 10% of Texas LNG. The remaining ownership of Texas LNG is Chandra (39%) Meyer (37%) and Maloney (16%).