Venture Global says it Exported 29 Cargoes from Plaquemines LNG Plant in Q1

Venture Global realized an average fixed liquefaction fee of $7.26 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from the Plaquemines plant, it said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company has played a major role in helping the U.S. become the world’s largest exporter of the superchilled gas by producing LNG at its plants ahead of schedule, even as parts remain under construction.

Plaquemines is Venture Global’s second LNG facility and was on Thursday pulling 2.15 billion cubic feet of gas as it quickly ramps up production, according to data from LSEG.

The plant only produced its first LNG in December and is now operating at 140% of its design capacity, according to a note on Tuesday from investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co.

Plaquemines is pulling more gas than the company’s first plant, Calcasieu Pass, also located in Louisiana. That facility exported 34 cargoes at an average liquefaction fee of $8.80/mmBtu for the first quarter 2025, according to the same regulatory filing.

Venture Global is commissioning Phase 1 of Plaquemines with Phase 2 under construction. The company has already asked permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to start introducing natural gas to parts of Phase 2 of the plant, documents show.

The timing of Plaquemines LNG Phase 2 and Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil, could significantly affect the forecast for U.S. natural gas demand because the two facilities represent 19% of incremental U.S. LNG export capacity for 2025 and 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Agency said on Thursday.

Golden Pass has said it expects to produce first LNG from its first train in the second half of 2025.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Nia Williams)