Venture Global (VG) has permission to put all remaining facilities at the Calcasieu Pass LNG plant into service, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said.

In a letter dated April 3, the FERC notified Venture Global that the remaining facilities associated with the plant that first produced LNG in 2022, had passed all required inspections.

“Based on Commission staff inspections and review of the commissioning and remediation activities, Venture Global has demonstrated that the above-mentioned facilities have been constructed in accordance with Commission approval and applicable standards and can be expected to operate safely and reliably as designed,” the FERC spokesman said.

Calcasieu Pass LNG is located south of Lake Charles in Southwestern Louisiana. The plant is designed to deliver 10 million tons of LNG per year (mtpa), liquefying up to 1.3 Bcf/d of natural gas.

Venture Global remains in an ongoing dispute with long-term clients that have contracted LNG from Calcasieu. Its resolution remains undetermined as of press time.

Since production began, the plant has delivered about 400 cargos, according to a report from Natural Gas Intelligence. All cargos were delivered on the spot market, allowing VG to bring in potentially higher fees than it would have otherwise from supplying its customers.

While the plant was still commissioning, Venture Global held that it had not reached a complete status and therefore was not required to supply its long-term customers.

The long-term customers, including Shell, BP, Edison and Repsol, disagreed and started arbitration proceedings against Venture Global at the end of 2024.

In mid-February, Venture Global said it would begin shipping to its long-term customers with the start of commercial operations.

VG’s customers were not convinced.

“We remain skeptical of their intent to fulfill their obligation to provide the cargos,” Shell said in a statement to Reuters on Feb. 18.

On April 3, Shell informed Hart Energy that the company had nothing to add. BP and Venture Global did not immediately respond to inquiries from Hart.

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