Live Oak LNG unveils $2B Louisiana export project

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Martin Houston, chairman of Live Oak LNG, today announced a new natural gas liquefaction and export project, up to a $2 billion investment, to be developed in the Calcasieu waterway.

The mid-sized project is being designed for a plant capacity of up to 5 million tpy of production and will include two 130,000 m3 storage tanks, and port facilities with a jetty for standard size liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

The proposed site is about 350 acres and is situated within Calcasieu Parish on the west bank of the Calcasieu River.

Initial study work is already underway, and Live Oak LNG will begin the permitting process within the next few weeks. The anticipated start-up of the plant is in late 2019.

Live Oak LNG is a fully owned subsidiary of Parallax Energy, a new company that includes experts representing every aspect of the liquefied natural gas chain. Live Oak LNG and Parallax Energy are led by Martin Houston, former COO and executive director of BG Group. Houston is largely credited with creating BG Group’s world-leading LNG business.

“This investment by Live Oak LNG is a welcome addition to the wealth of major industrial projects in Southwest Louisiana that are capitalizing on our state’s energy infrastructure and our outstanding, skilled workforce," said Gov. Jindal.

"The global demand for affordable, American-produced liquefied natural gas is on the rise, and Calcasieu Parish is ideally situated to serve that market with its deepwater ports and ready access to natural gas supplies," he added.

Live Oak LNG has awarded Bechtel a contract for the pre-engineering design and Chart Industries has been selected for the process design work. Live Oak LNG estimates that there will be an average of 550 people working directly on the project, with up to 1,000 jobs during the construction peak.

Once operational, the plant will employ approximately 100 people, with further roles created in the community to support the plant.

“In addition to having Louisiana’s support, we are well positioned as a company to succeed with this project," said Houston. "Our team has over 100 years of LNG experience, our project is well researched, we are fully funded through to final investment decision (FID), and we are supported by world class experts and suppliers."

Governor Jindal and Houston made the announcement in The Southwest Louisiana Entrepreneurial and Economic Development Center (SEED), along with the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance (SWLA) and Louisiana Economic Development (LED).