Magnolia LNG Protest
By Tyson Slocum
Today Public Citizen protests private equity Glenfarne Group’s request to extend the date (from November 30, 2023, to April 15, 2026) by which natural gas exports must commence from its proposed Magnolia LNG facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana just north of Calcasieu Lake―next to Calcasieu Point Landing. The Department of Energy must deny the request because Magnolia LNG has not yet begun construction.
The Department of Energy’s April 21, 2023 Policy Statement on Export Commencement Deadlines in Natural Gas Export Authorizations declares that it “will not consider an application for an extension, unless the authorization holder demonstrates both that: it has physically commenced construction on the associated export facility, and its inability to comply with the existing export commencement deadline is the result of extenuating circumstances outside of its control.” [emphasis added] [1]
Magnolia LNG reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on May 1, 2023 that “Construction has not yet commenced for the Liquefaction Project”.[2]
Because the Glenfarne Group has not “physically commenced construction” of Magnolia LNG, the Department of Energy must deny the request to extend the export commencement deadline, per the April 21 Policy Statement.
Read the full filing here: MagnoliaLNG
[1] www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-04-26/pdf/2023-08805.pdf
[2] Monthly Report No. 83 covering the period April 1, 2023, to April 30, 2023 for the Magnolia LNG Liquefaction Project, FERC Docket Nos. CP14-347 and CP19-19, at 3.1 on page 3, https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filedownload?fileid=B32E6F6E-93B3-C303-9806-87D919900000