据路透社报道，美国联邦能源管理委员会（FERC）周四批准建造两座液化天然气（LNG）出口终端，泰利安位于路易斯安那州的Driftwood项目以及桑普拉能源公司位于德克萨斯州的阿瑟港LNG项目。

根据国际天然气联盟（IGU）的数据，随着印度等国寻求更清洁的煤炭替代能源以满足日益增长的能源需求，全球液化天然气需求激增，2018年，液化天然气需求连续第五年增长9.8%，创历史新高。

Driftwood项目和LNG项目只是美国、加拿大和墨西哥正在开发的几十个液化天然气出口项目中的两个。由于有这么多工厂在开发中，分析人士表示，大多数工厂可能不会在未来10年内建成。

泰利安表示，计划在2019年对其300亿美元的Driftwood项目做出最终投资决定，该项目除液化工厂外还包括管道和生产区域，预计2023年将首次生产液化天然气。

桑普拉表示，它计划在2020年第一季度左右对阿瑟港LNG项目做出最终投资决定。

泰利安表示，Driftwood项目被设计为每年生产2760万吨液化天然气，即每天约40亿立方英尺的天然气，该项目的第一阶段年产能可能包括1660万吨液化天然气。（注:10亿立方英尺的天然气足够每天为500万户美国家庭提供燃料）

阿瑟港LNG项目的设计为每年生产1350万吨液化天然气或约每天18亿立方英尺的天然气。

FERC主席尼尔·查特吉在一份声明中表示：“今天的订单显示，FERC在以更有效的方式处理液化天然气应用方面取得了很大进展，我为我们所做的工作感到自豪。”

在过去的一年里，美国政府的官员，包括能源部长在内，敦促FERC加快审查尚未审批的液化天然气出口申请，以推动天然气出口，作为能源主导战略的一部分。

查特吉表示：“液化天然气的出口可以帮助我们的全球盟友增加廉价、清洁的燃料供应，他们正在寻找一种高效、廉价、环保的发电来源。”

在2016年2月，美国液化天然气公司切尼尔能源在路易斯安那州的Sabine Pass运送第一批货物之前，美国是液化天然气的净进口国，但到2018年，美国已成为超冷燃料产能的第三大出口国，仅次于澳大利亚和卡塔尔。

仅从目前在建的工厂来看，美国液化天然气的出口能力预计将从目前的52亿立方英尺/天，到2019年底上升到85亿立方英尺/天，到2020年上升至100亿立方英尺/天。

詹晓晶摘自路透社

原文如下：

U.S. FERC approves two new LNG export terminals in Texas and Louisiana

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday approved construction of two proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, Tellurian Inc’s Driftwood in Louisiana and Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur in Texas.

Demand for LNG around the world has exploded, rising by 9.8%to a record high for a fifth consecutive year in 2018, as countries, like China and India, seek cleaner alternatives to burning coal to meet their growing energy needs, according to data from the International Gas Union (IGU).

Driftwood and Port Arthur are just two of dozens of LNG export terminals under development in the United States, Canada and Mexico. With so many plants under development, analysts have said that most will likely not be built over the next decade.

Tellurian said it planned to make a final investment decision on its $30 billion Driftwood project, which includes pipelines and production fields in addition to the liquefaction plant, in 2019 with first LNG production expected in 2023.

Sempra has said it planned to make a final investment decision on Port Arthur around the first quarter of 2020.

Driftwood is designed to produce 27.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG or about 4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas. The first phase of the project will likely comprise 16.6 MTPA, Tellurian has said.

One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to fuel about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.

Port Arthur is designed to produce 13.5 MTPA of LNG or about 1.8 bcfd of gas.

“Today’s orders show FERC is making a lot of headway on processing LNG applications in a more efficient manner, and I’m proud of the work that we are doing,” FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee said in a statement.

Over the past year, some officials in U.S.administration, including Energy Secretary? have urged FERC to speed up its process of reviewing pending LNG export applications to boost gas exports as part of the energy dominance strategy.

“LNG exports can help increase the availability of inexpensive, clean-burning fuel to our global allies who are looking for an efficient, affordable, environmentally friendly source of generation,” Chatterjee said.

The United States, a net importer of LNG before Cheniere Energy Inc shipped its first cargo from Sabine Pass in Louisiana in February 2016, became the third-biggest exporter of the supercooled fuel by capacity in 2018, behind Australia and Qatar.

Looking at only the plants currently under construction, U.S. LNG export capacity is expected to rise to 8.5 bcfd by the end of 2019 and 10.0 bcfd in 2020, from 5.2 bcfd now.