America’s Calcasieu Pass LNG gets into the swing of commercial ops

U.S.-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project developer Venture Global has celebrated the start of commercial operations at its LNG export project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, south of Lake Charles, United States. With commercial operations going full throttle, Portugal’s oil and gas company Galp has confirmed its first LNG cargo from this project.

Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG project came into commercial operation on April 15, 2025, as scheduled, reaching its commercial operation date (COD) in under 68 months from its final investment decision (FID) in August 2019. The company claims that this puts the project on the list of the fastest greenfield LNG projects completed.

Mike Sabel, Venture Global CEO, commented: “I am incredibly proud of our team who have worked relentlessly and diligently to successfully construct and commission our first LNG project. We are excited to reach this milestone and are grateful for our regulators and supply chain partners who have worked with our team to reach commercial operations as efficiently and safely as possible.”

While revealing the beginning of commercial operations at its inaugural LNG export project, the firm also confirmed the commencement of the sale of U.S. LNG to the project’s long-term customers with multi-billion-dollar contracts, which are expected to have a significant positive impact on the U.S. balance of trade with several European allies.

Venture Global highlighted: “Due to its innovative, first-of-its kind configuration consisting of many mid-scale, modular liquefaction trains and process facilities that are delivered and installed sequentially, as well as Venture Global’s owner-led approach to construction, the project was able to overcome significant unforeseen challenges, including a global pandemic, two hurricanes, and a force majeure event that arose due to major manufacturing issues with the facility’s power island.

“Having completed a multi-year rectification and remediation of key components of the facility that underpin the redundancy features inherent in the project’s design, Calcasieu Pass is now ready to operate safely and reliably.”

According to the company, the Calcasieu Pass LNG project maintained “an exemplary safety record,” outperforming the industry average total recordable incident rate, which represents the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Heavy Construction Industry recordable incidents per one hundred workers per year, by a considerable margin.

Furthermore, Venture Global underlines that the long-term sales and purchase agreements at Calcasieu Pass are among the most attractive price points for customers worldwide, with average liquefaction fees under $2/mmbtu. The project’s long-term customers are anticipated to benefit from reportedly low-cost North American LNG for the full duration of their 20-year contracts.

The 1,000-acre site, located where the Calcasieu Ship Channel meets the Gulf of Mexico/America, is envisioned to export 10 metric tons per year (mtpa) of LNG per year. However, an additional 60 million mtpa of production capacity is also being developed in Louisiana.

Galp claims that it lifted the first LNG cargo from Venture Global LNG on April 15, 2025, under its sales and purchase agreement, signaling the start of the take-or-pay rights and obligations outlined in the 20-year SPA, signed in May 2, 2018, for 1 mtpa, from the Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in Louisiana.

“The successful delivery of this first cargo reinforces Galp’s natural gas & LNG position, diversifying and adding flexibility to its portfolio,” emphasized the Portuguese player.

Venture Global’s first facility, Calcasieu Pass, commenced producing LNG in January 2022. The company’s second facility, Plaquemines LNG, followed suit in December 2024. The firm’s third facility, CP2 LNG, received a positive final environmental impact statement (FEIS) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in July 2023.

The FERC recently prepared a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) to address the arguments raised on rehearing to set aside the prior order for the CP2 LNG and CP Express pipeline. The U.S. recently conditionally granted Venture Global authorization to export LNG to non-free trade agreement (non-FTA) countries from the project.

The firm is currently constructing and developing over 100 mtpa of nameplate production capacity while also developing carbon capture and sequestration projects (CCS) at each of its LNG facilities.