(WO) — Argent LNG has received a 20-year authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to export up to 25 MMtpa of domestically produced liquefied natural gas from its proposed Port Fourchon, Louisiana, export terminal to countries with U.S. Free Trade Agreements.
The authorization, issued under DOE Order No. 5447, allows Argent LNG to export the equivalent of 1,293.75 Bcf of natural gas annually beginning with the project’s first commercial exports. The approval represents a major federal regulatory milestone for the proposed LNG facility as it advances through the permitting process.
Argent LNG plans to construct the export terminal on approximately 900 acres at Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish. The facility is designed to include 12 modular liquefaction trains using Baker Hughes’ NMBL™ technology, two 220,000-cu-m LNG storage tanks, a 350-MW gas-fired power generation facility and two marine loading berths capable of serving large LNG carriers.
The company expects to begin construction in late 2027, with first LNG production targeted for the first quarter of 2030.
The DOE authorization applies to exports to Free Trade Agreement nations, while Argent LNG’s separate application to export LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement countries remains under review by the department.
The project continues to advance through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s pre-filing environmental review process. Argent LNG said it has submitted 11 resource reports covering environmental, engineering and socioeconomic aspects of the proposed development.
“This federal authorization marks a significant regulatory milestone for the project,” said Jonathan Bass, chairman and CEO of Argent LNG. “We will continue advancing development as we work toward bringing additional U.S. LNG export capacity to global markets.”
Argent LNG has also announced several commercial agreements in recent weeks, including memorandums of understanding supporting potential LNG supply to Ukraine, Bangladesh and Türkiye, although those arrangements remain separate from the DOE export authorization.
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