FERC Wednesday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) to Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC to build facilities to liquefy and export natural gas at the existing Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Cameron Parish, LA.

“Approval of the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment,” the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said of the liquefaction project [CP11-72].

The liquefaction project would be capable of processing an average of 2.6 Bcf/d of pipeline-quality natural gas from the Creole Trail Pipeline, which interconnects with the Sabine Pass terminal. It would have the ability to export approximately 16 million metric tons of LNG annually via tankers. Sabine Pass Liquefaction and the Sabine Pass terminal are subsidiaries of Houston-based Cheniere Energy Partners LP.

The project is being designed and permitted for up to four modular LNG trains, each with a nominal capacity of about 4.5 million metric tons per year. The liquefaction project is expected to be constructed in phases, with each LNG train commencing operations approximately six to nine months after the previous train.

In May Sabine Pass Liquefaction received approval from the Department of Energy (DOE) to liquefy and export homegrown natural gas from the Sabine Pass LNG terminal to any country that has or develops import capacity (see Daily GPI, May 23). That order expanded upon the previous authorization that Sabine Pass Liquefaction received from DOE n September 2010 permitting it to export LNG to all current and future Free Trade Agreement countries (see Daily GPI, Sept. 13, 2010).

Earlier this month Cheniere Energy Partners announced that Sabine Pass Liquefaction and Gail (India) Ltd. have struck an LNG sale and purchase agreement. Gail has agreed to buy 3.5 million metric tons per year from train four of the liquefaction facility (see Daily GPI, Dec. 13).

In November the company said Sabine Pass Liquefaction had struck a sale and purchase contract with Gas Natural Aprovisionamientos, a unit of Gas Natural Fenosa (see Daily GPI, Nov. 22). The deal calls for Gas Natural Fenosa to buy 3.5 million metric tons of LNG a year.

Sabine Pass also has inked a deal to sell LNG to a unit of BG Group for export worldwide (see Daily GPI, Nov. 10; Oct. 27).

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