The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which had been expected to vote through to the full Senate Colette D. Honorable‘s nomination to become a commissioner at theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission, was forced to delay the vote Wednesday morning when too few members to constitute a quorum attended a hearing. Honorable’s nomination received bipartisan support during a hearing of the committee earlier in December, and members said they hoped to complete the process before the current congressional session ends (see Daily GPI, Dec. 4). But the committee fell two members short of a quorum and adjourned without voting on the nomination. Outgoing chairman Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said she still hoped to push Honorable’s nomination through with an ad hoc, off the floor vote. It was the final scheduled committee meeting for Landrieu, who lost her reelection bid to Republican Bill Cassidy in a runoff Nov. 6 (see Daily GPI, Nov. 5).

Kinder Morgan Inc.‘s (KMI) Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline, Kinder Morgan Tejas Pipeline and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. (TGP) have entered into 15-year firm transportation agreements and a multi-year storage agreement with Cheniere Energy Inc. through its subsidiary Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC. KMI agreed to provide 550,000 Dth/d of firm natural gas transportation service, as well as 3 Bcf of storage capacity, to serve the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility being developed near Corpus Christi, TX. The project is being designed and permitted for up to three trains, with aggregate design production capacity of 13.5 million metric tons/year of LNG. The natural gas transportation service can be increased to 800,000 Dth/d upon the completion of certain conditions in the Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline agreement. KMI plans to expand its Texas intrastate pipeline system in South Texas to provide 250,000 Dth/d of firm transportation and 100% of the storage services, and expand its TGP Pipeline to provide 300,000 Dth/d of firm transportation from various Zone 1 receipt points near its Station 87 Pool in Portland, TN. The construction of the facilities necessary to support these services would be coordinated with the startup of the LNG export facility, which is expected in 2018-2019. KMI expects to invest $187 million for the project.

Venture Global LNG LLC said it will invest about $4.25 billion to construct its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal proposed for the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Cameron Parish, LA. Construction is expected to begin at the 203-acre Venture Global site in the third quarter of 2016, and the terminal could enter service in late 2019. With a planned export capacity of 10 million metric tons when fully developed, the facility would accommodate oceangoing vessels with capacity of up to 185,000 cubic meters of LNG. Venture Global received free trade agreement export authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2013 (see Daily GPI, Oct. 22, 2013).