Venture Global has unveiled plans to expand its Plaquemines LNG facility, located near New Orleans, Louisiana, with an investment of nearly $18bn.
The announcement was made with the participation of key figures such as US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, among other officials and stakeholders.
This expansion involves the addition of 24 liquefaction trains at the Plaquemines site, which will significantly increase the production capacity.
With this development, Venture Global’s total investment in its US projects is set to exceed $75bn.
Originally approved during President Donald Trump’s first tenure, the Plaquemines LNG facility is already operational and contributes around 27 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to the US’ LNG export capacity.
The brownfield expansion project will boost this output by over 18MTPA, bringing the total capacity to more than 45MTPA.
Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel said: “Our planned expansion of Plaquemines will make it the largest LNG export facility built in North America, supplying LNG to our allies while making a substantial impact on the US balance of trade.
“We believe this flexible incremental capacity will position us to respond rapidly to market growth signals. In a capital-intensive commodity industry, capital will always flow to the most competitive projects, and we believe that an expansion of Plaquemines is one of the most economically efficient opportunities available to quickly meet growing LNG demand.”
The expansion is expected to maintain hundreds of permanent jobs within Louisiana and create thousands of indirect opportunities for subcontractors across over 30 states nationwide.
At peak construction, the project will support thousands of direct jobs in construction. Venture Global anticipates making a final investment decision regarding the expansion after initial production commences at Calcasieu Pass 2.
Situated in Plaquemines Parish, about 32km from New Orleans, the Plaquemines LNG facility serves both liquefaction and export functions.
In December 2024, Venture Global reported the successful loading and shipment of its first LNG cargo from Plaquemines. This inaugural cargo was transported by the Venture Global Bayou vessel, part of a fleet comprising nine advanced LNG ships heading to ENBW in Germany.
The facility was initially designed for a nameplate capacity of 20MTPA and reached its final investment decisions for Phase One in May 2022 and Phase Two in March 2023. Due to Venture Global’s strategic configuration and approach to construction, the facility continues to produce and export LNG while ongoing construction and commissioning tasks are completed for its remaining infrastructure.
