Wedoany.com Report-Aug. 26, The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has granted Energy Transfer LP’s request to extend the Lake Charles LNG project’s first cargo dispatch deadline from 2025 to 2031. Located in Louisiana, the project also received a three-year “make-up period,” allowing exports of remaining authorized volumes until 2053 if the project does not exhaust its permitted export volume by 2050.

The Louisiana project by Energy Transfer now has until 2031 to dispatch its first cargo.

Tala Goudarzi, principal deputy assistant secretary of DOE’s Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Office, stated: “Granting this commencement extension furthers the priority of unleashing American energy.” The DOE noted that the U.S. currently operates eight large-scale LNG projects, with additional projects under construction or expanding, supporting significant natural gas exports.

The Lake Charles LNG project, a conversion of an existing regasification facility, is authorized to export up to 851 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent annually to countries without a U.S. free trade agreement, as per DOE orders issued in 2016 and 2017. Energy Transfer has secured all necessary approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In September 2024, the company awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to a joint venture of KBR Inc. and Technip Energies NV.

In 2023, the DOE rejected Energy Transfer’s request to extend the project’s 2025 deadline to 2028. However, in April 2025, the DOE revised its policy, removing requirements that projects be under construction or prove delays due to external circumstances. The DOE now evaluates extension requests on a case-by-case basis, noting that the permitting process is already thorough. On April 17, 2025, Energy Transfer submitted a new application for the 2031 extension, which has now been approved.

Recent agreements have strengthened the project’s outlook. In June, Energy Transfer and Chevron Corp. finalized a deal increasing Chevron’s offtake to three million metric tons per annum for 20 years. In May, MidOcean Energy agreed to fund 30% of construction costs in exchange for 30% of the project’s production. In April, Kyushu Electric Power Co. committed to an offtake of one million metric tons per annum for 20 years.

The Lake Charles LNG project is poised to contribute to the U.S.’s growing role in global LNG markets, leveraging existing infrastructure and strategic partnerships to enhance energy export capacity.