By Curtis Williams
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Commonwealth LNG has asked federal regulators for a four-year extension to construct and begin exporting liquefied natural gas from a proposed export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, a regulatory document shows.
In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Commonwealth said the extension was needed due to an approval pause implemented by former U.S. President Joe Biden last year. While President Donald Trump lifted the freeze earlier this year, the company said it cannot meet the present deadline of November 2027 and wants it extended to December 2031.
“These delays were beyond the control of Commonwealth and unavoidably affected Commonwealth’s ability to advance the Project on the schedule contemplated when its application was filed,” the company said in the filing.
Commonwealth has so far sold 5 million metric tons per annum of planned capacity but is still short of selling out the total 9.5 mtpa that would come online upon completion. LNG developers usually try to sell most of the future flows in long-term agreements before giving the financial greenlight for a plant to be built.
Commonwealth did not immediately respond to a question about whether the excess capacity that has not been sold yet also played a role in the request for more time. The company has sales agreements with EQT, Glencore, JERA and PETRONAS.
The company has previously said it wants to make a final investment decision on the construction of the plant before the end of the year.
The FERC said if the extension request is contested, it will aim to issue a decision within 45 days.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Chris Reese)
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