Tellurian plans to start building this summer

(Courtesy Tellurian Inc.) An artist's rendering of the Driftwood LNG facility near Lake Charles.

U.S. LNG developer Tellurian expects the company will begin construction this summer on its $16.8 billion Driftwood LNG export plant south of Lake Charles, reports Reuters. In recent weeks, prices for the fuel have soared due to cold weather in Asia and bottlenecked shipments at the Panama Canal.

Over the past two years, numerous projects slated for groundbreaking in North America, including Driftwood, were delayed because customers were unwilling to sign long-term deals needed to finance the projects as natural gas prices slumped.

While the system is stressed, Tellurian feels that global LNG demand is on track to increase by around 200 million tons over the next seven years. In 2020, global LNG demand hit a record high of 360 million tons.

The first phase of Driftwood is slated for operation in 2025, and will produce about 16.5 million tons per annum of LNG, equivalent to about 2.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to supply about five million homes for a day. See Reuters for the full story.