The developer of a liquefied natural gas export terminal in south Texas is asking federal energy regulators for five more years to finish the project, citing a prolonged court fight.
In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an official with the Texas LNG project planned for Brownsville, Texas, said the proposal has been held up by “extenuating circumstances outside of Texas LNG’s control.”
Oscar Lopez, regulatory and permitting manager for Texas LNG Brownsville LLC, said litigation from the Sierra Club over FERC’s authorization of the project has persisted for several years. That has led to ripple effects in a variety of areas, including with marketing, regulatory and construction issues, he said.
“Texas LNG has made good-faith efforts to meet the construction deadline by diligently pursuing and obtaining necessary environmental permits, executing, and pursuing commercial agreements, and defending its FERC authorization in the D.C. Circuit and on remand to FERC,” Lopez wrote in the letter last week. “That litigation is the cause of the delay of construction of the Project.”
