The US Maritime Administration has issued the final environmental impact statement for ST LNG’s planned 8.4m-tonnes-per-annum offshore export terminal near Matagorda, Texas, according to the US Maritime Administration.
The project would be built about 10.4 nautical miles offshore in Brazos Outer Continental Shelf Lease Block 476, in water depths of 65 feet to 72 feet.
The review does not constitute a construction permit or deepwater port licence and will support a later decision to approve the application, approve it with conditions or reject it.
A final public hearing is scheduled for 12 August at the Bay City Civic Center in Bay City, Texas. An open house will run from 5pm to 6pm local time, followed by the hearing from 6pm to 8pm.
ST LNG plans four development phases, each based on a 2.1m-tpa liquefaction system. The full project would include fixed offshore platforms and floating storage units, with LNG loaded onto conventional LNG carriers of 125,000 cbm to 180,000 cbm. The expected average vessel size is 146,000 cbm.
The environmental review involved the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, National Marine Fisheries Service, US Army Corps of Engineers and US Coast Guard. ST LNG secured long-term Department of Energy approval on 22 April to export the equivalent of up to 460bn cubic feet of natural gas annually to free-trade-agreement countries.
The authorisation runs from the start of exports through 31 December 2050, with a further three-year make-up period. Its application to serve non-FTA markets remains pending.
Baker Hughes was selected in March to supply two LM6000PF gas turbine-driven centrifugal compressor trains and three NovaLT16 gas turbine generator packages for the first 2.1m-tpa phase. Initial production is targeted for around mid-2030, while associated orders remain tied to progress towards a final investment decision.
ST LNG LLC is a privately held Florida limited liability company registered in April 2022. Its LNG development is separate from Texas GulfLink, a proposed crude oil export terminal off Brazoria County, Texas.
Baker Hughes is a US energy technology company providing equipment and services across the oil, gas, LNG and industrial energy sectors.