Australia's Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. said on Sept. 30 it has received preliminary approval to increase output at its proposed U.S. LNG plant to 8.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from the currently authorized 8 mtpa.

A draft environmental impact statement by the U.S. energy regulator found that increased production at the planned Magnolia LNG LLC project in Louisiana would not negatively impact air or noise emissions in the area, LNG Ltd. said in a statement.

The company plans to build an LNG export terminal comprising four LNG production units, known as trains. It has said it hopes to make a final investment decision on the $4.4 billion project later this year.

LNG Ltd. applied in November last year to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to increase its total authorized production capacity at the project.

FERC is expected to issue the final version of its statement on or before Jan. 24, 2020, LNG Ltd. said.