U.S. pipeline company Energy Transfer LP on Feb. 3 asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a three-year extension to its permit to build a Louisiana liquefied natural gas plant, according to a FERC filing.

The proposed Lake Charles LNG project received approval from FERC in December 2019 for a five-year extension to build an LNG export facility at Energy Transfer’s existing import terminal and regasification facility in Lake Charles. According to the FERC filing on Feb. 3, however, Energy Transfer now wants to be able to extend construction of the 16.4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) Lake Charles LNG facility through late 2028.

Energy Transfer took over development of the Lake Charles LNG export project in March 2020 following an announcement by Shell that it decided not to proceed with an equity investment in the project due to current market conditions. At the time, Energy Transfer said it would evaluate various alternatives to advance the project, including the possibility of bringing in one or more equity partners and reducing the size of the project from three trains (16.45 mtpa of LNG capacity) to two trains (11.0 mtpa).

The existing Lake Charles LNG Co. LLC import terminal has approximately 9 Bcf of above ground LNG storage capacity and the regasification facility has a run rate send-out capacity of 1.8 Bcf/d, according to the company’s website.

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