Glenfarne Group acquires Magnolia LNG project in Louisiana

Energy and infrastructure assets developer and operator Glenfarne Group has acquired Magnolia LNG, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal development project in the US state of Louisiana.

The acquisition has been completed through Glenfarne’s newly formed subsidiary, Magnolia LNG.

As part of the transaction, Glenfarne also acquired Magnolia LNG’s patented optimised single mixed refrigerant (OSMR) liquefaction technology.

The OSMR technology is a low-cost, highly efficient process that is configured to generate lower GHG emissions compared to other conventional LNG technologies.

Magnolia LNG is an eight million tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG export business. The project has already received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval.

The 115-acre project site sits on the Industrial Canal near the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, US.

Magnolia LNG will receive natural gas from the existing Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline (KMLP) and will pretreat, liquefy and store the LNG onsite for export and domestic purpose.

Glenfarne founder and managing partner Brendan Duval said: “Magnolia LNG is a well-known and high-quality project to which Glenfarne brings its funding, marketing, development and construction expertise to take it to Final Investment Decision, and then construct and operate the asset.

“We believe in the essential role that natural gas plays in the transition to a lower carbon world. The facility will provide clean, low-cost and reliable energy globally, and we are proud to support this critical infrastructure project.”

Magnolia LNG’s acquisition increases Glenfarne’s liquefied natural gas export capacity to about 12mtpa. Nearly 4mtpa of the total export facility comes from Texas LNG Brownsville, which is a late-stage LNG export development project in Brownsville, Texas.

Initial approval for the export of 4mtpa of LNG from the project to free trade agreement (FTA) countries was granted by the Department of Energy (DOE) in February 2013 and approval for an additional 4mtpa of LNG exports to FTA countries was approved by the DOE in March 2014.