Australian energy company Woodside has completed construction of the first LNG storage tank at its Louisiana LNG export terminal in the United States, according to reports. The tank has a storage capacity of 235,000 cubic meters and is being cited as a milestone showing that Phase 1 construction of the terminal is proceeding steadily.
The Louisiana LNG project is an LNG liquefaction and export terminal being developed by Woodside on the US Gulf Coast, with the newly completed storage tank built as part of the project’s first-phase construction, according to reports. The report did not disclose specific figures such as the project’s total processing capacity, number of liquefaction trains, or overall investment amount, instead focusing on the process milestone of the first storage tank taking shape.
The completed storage tank has a confirmed capacity of 235,000 cubic meters. The news was reported on September 24.
The completion of this storage tank is seen as evidence that Woodside’s Louisiana project is steadily entering the actual construction phase amid intense competition to expand large-scale LNG export capacity along the US Gulf Coast.
With numerous LNG export terminals being built simultaneously along the US Gulf Coast in recent years, the pace of progress on core facilities such as storage tanks and liquefaction trains is seen as a factor shaping each project’s credibility in the market, according to observers. News of a completed storage tank can be interpreted as a signal to the market that a project is proceeding on schedule, which may also be of reference to Asian and European buyers considering long-term offtake agreements. However, since completion of a single storage tank represents just one of many processes within the overall project, it is noted that progress on core facilities such as liquefaction trains should also be confirmed. Amid competition among Gulf Coast LNG projects, this milestone may also serve as a reference point for gauging Woodside’s relative progress. The US Gulf Coast already hosts numerous large LNG export projects under construction simultaneously, and competition among these projects over core equipment supply chains, such as storage tanks and liquefaction trains, is also said to persist. Against this backdrop, the steady disclosure of individual process milestones like this one can be interpreted as part of an effort to maintain market confidence in the project’s subsequent financing and offtake contracting processes.
Whether progress on additional storage tanks, liquefaction trains and other core facilities is disclosed going forward is the primary point to watch. Whether more specific details about the project’s overall target startup schedule are subsequently released is also worth monitoring. Whether Woodside moves to secure additional long-term offtake agreements based on this progress is another point of interest. How this project’s relative construction pace is assessed compared with competing Gulf Coast LNG projects is also a point to watch.