Tellurian is asking for three more years to finish the Driftwood LNG export plant in Carlyss.

“The request for an extension is simply a “just in case” foramility and normal for an infrastructure project of this size,” said Joi Lecznar, a spokesperson for the Houston-based American company. “We are still on track, and anticipate being able to produce LNG in 2027.   

Wednesday, Tellurian’s Driftwood LNG asked the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for an extra 36 months beyond the originally authorized in-service date to complete construction of the LNG plant and an associated natural gas pipeline.In April 2019, FERC approved the construction  and gave Tellurian seven years, or until 2026, to complete the project. The extra 36-months would give Tellurian until 2029 to finish the project.

Driftwood entered into an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract in November 2017 with U.S. construction company Bechtel to build the plant. IN 2022, Driftwood gave Bechtel a “limited notice to proceed.” Over the past 17 months, construction has progressed continuously.

“Bechtel is used to managing these types of issues,” Leczaner said. “The piling for the first plant is completed, and is working on the second.  We have also poured a significant amount of the foundations required, more than 13,000 cubic yards, including the Plant 1 compressor foundations.

The delivery of the compression packages has been delayed because of supply chain disruptions and large airline industry demand, which, in part, prompted the request for more time.

Tellurian is still looking for customers to buy its LNG, and has not made a Final Investment Decision (FID).

“We have invested $1.5 billion into Driftwood LNG and we anticipate needing another $3 billion in equity which may or may not come with offtake agreements, depending on the partner, and $7 billion in bank debt.Leczaner said the debt market was not receptive to contracts on international indices. Freeing those 9 MTPA in contracts allowed us to pursue different equity models (some with associated offtake) and offtake agreements based on more traditional indices.