Field/project development

Proposed Annova LNG Export Facility Hits Snag With Permit Application

The US Army of Corps of Engineers pulled the permit application after the company requested an extension on a review deadline for the project, which could accommodate up to 6 million tons of LNG production annually.

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The proposed Annova LNG facility would be located at the Port of Brownsville, approximately 8 miles off the coast of the US Gulf of Mexico.
Port of Brownsville

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has withdrawn the permit application for the Annova LNG export facility proposed for the Brownsville Ship Channel on the coast of the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

In a letter dated 31 July but released last week, the USACE said it had not received additional information it had requested on the gas supply pipeline that would supply natural gas to the facility, and that it would not accept Annova LNG’s request for an extension of time to provide that information.

The project would bring an LNG terminal to the Port of Brownsville. If built, the terminal would sit approximately 8 miles from the GOM in Cameron County, Texas. It will include two 160,000-m3 LNG storage tanks and an LNG carrier dock. The proposed site could accommodate three stages of development, each capable of producing 2 million tons of LNG annually.

The project requires 26 federal, state, and local permits and licenses, including approvals from the USACE, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the US Department of Energy, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In a letter issued to Annova LNG in June, FERC questioned the company over its natural gas supply, particularly whether the natural gas delivered to the facilities will come exclusively from Texas or from out-of-state sources, which would require a different approval process.

The San Antonio Business Journal reported in June that, according to a letter filed by Ravi Ganti, senior vice president of Annova LNG Common Infrastructure, the company was still in negotiations for its pipeline project and those negotiations were not expected to be finished until November. Annova LNG had requested that the USACE postpone a review deadline for the project until 2 November, a request the agency rejected.

A final investment decision on the project was expected this year and the facility was scheduled to be operational in 2020, but the withdrawal of the application will likely affect that timeline.

The USACE withdrawal does not preclude Annova LNG from reapplying at a later date.