North American LNG export hopefuls have big dreams, but most of those big dreams are many years and many multibillions in the making. From the Alaska LNG Project, estimated at a total cost between $45 billion and $65 billion, to Cheniere Inc.’s Sabine Pass LNG Terminal with its estimated processing capacity of 27 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), many of the announced projects are so ambitious, they will never reach a final investment decision.

Meanwhile, a new contender is approaching the LNG export front from a different angle. Live Oak LNG announced plans to invest about $2 billion to develop a midsized liquefaction facility and LNG export terminal near Lake Charles, La. Live Oak LNG is a subsidiary of Houston-based partnership Parallax Energy.

“Live Oak LNG is an innovative, efficient and cost-effective way to safely deliver LNG in smaller quantities that buyers can purchase incrementally,” Live Oak LNG Chairman Martin Houston said during a recent press conference with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The midsized project’s design will allow for a plant capacity of up to 5 mtpa, with two storage tanks capable of holding 130,000 cubic meters of LNG, along with port facilities to accommodate standard-sized LNG carriers. The project will be located on the west bank of the Calcasieu Ship Channel southwest of Lake Charles, on about 350 acres.

Making projects more economical is critical in times of stressed prices, and the Live Oak LNG management team believes the project’s smaller scope will do just that, Houston told the Houston Chronicle in a November 2014 interview. “We think the LNG business is no longer about big megaprojects,” he said. “We think we can be much more costefficient and economic on a cost basis on what we call midscale LNG.”

Live Oak LNG plans to begin the federal permitting process within the next few weeks. The company plans to begin construction once it secures permits from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which it expects by late 2016. The plant is targeted to begin operations in late 2019.

Caryn Livingston can be reached at clivingston@hartenergy.com or 713-260-6433.

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