Market riser Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGL) anticipates a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for its Magnolia LNG project in Louisiana will be issued in November, marking a key step forward for the proposed development.

Perth-based LNGL told shareholders the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had issued the Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review for Magnolia and had set November 16, 2015 as the anticipated date for issuance of the final EIS.

LNGL said the SER was a critical milestone for the proposed Magnolia project.

In addition to establishing the FEIS issuance date, it also establishes a 90‐day post‐FEIS decision deadline for all agencies responsible for issuing related federal authorizations including FERC.

LNGL managing director Maurice Brand said he was pleased with the company’s progress on the FERC regulatory aspects of the project.

“We appreciate the efforts of FERC and other agencies to process our application and remain confident that the Magnolia LNG project will meet or exceed all of the environmental and safety elements of the multi‐agency review,” he said.

In more company news, LNG announced it has been granted a patent in the United States for its OSMR process technology.

The company now has patents in Canada and the U.S. relating to the LNG production technology.

The OSMR process is based on a proven simple single mixed refrigerant system with the addition of conventional combined heat and power and ammonia refrigeration technology to significantly enhance the plant performance, which LNGL said results in plant costs reducing to about half that of competing technologies.

“This, together with the company’s plant modularisation and construction strategy, substantially improves project economics.”

The Magnolia project is being designed to accommodate four LNG trains, each of 2 mtpa capacity and guaranteeing 1.7 mtpa firm production capacity.

LNGL has expressed confidence it will close bankable offtake agreements for the full 8 mtpa of capacity, with initial LNG production from train 1 forecast for late 2018.

The company recently announced it was close to securing a key 20-year tolling agreement for Magnolia after one the projects proposed customers, Meridian LNG, inked a gas sales agreement with energy giant E.ON.

Shares in LNGL were buoyed on today’s news, gaining 8.1 per cent to $4.93.

Lauren Barrett can be reached at lbarrett@hartenergy.com