US Elba Island LNG export project pushed back

US energy firm Kinder Morgan said on Wednesday that the start-up of its Elba Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project near Savannah, Georgia had been pushed back.

Initial in-service date for the liquefaction facility located near the existing import facility at Elba Island is now expected in the fourth quarter of this year with final trains coming online by the third quarter of 2019.

Previously, the start-up was expected in the third quarter of this year.

The nearly $2 billion Elba liquefaction project is currently building a total of six liquefaction units.

The project is expected to have a total liquefaction capacity of about 2.5 million tonnes per year of LNG, equivalent to about 350 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

“The reason for the delay right now is multifactor. I mean, there was a delay in getting the units assembled and then delivered to the site. And we had some construction delays as well,” Rich Kinder, Executive Chairman of Kinder Morgan told analysts on Wednesday during the company’s second-quarter results conference call.

Kinder added that the company had been active in addressing the delays with the project’s EPC contractor, IHI E&C.

“And we think we have the issues identified and enhanced, but it works — we definitely are experiencing one-quarter delay,” he said.

“So we still expect to get this done. It’s under budget. We’ve got contingency remaining. It’s still going to be a very economic project for us and our partners,” Kinder said.

The LNG export project is supported by a 20-year contract with the Hague-based LNG giant Shell.

Elba Liquefaction Company, the developer of the facility, is a Kinder Morgan joint venture with EIG Global Energy Partners as a 49 percent partner.

LNG World News Staff