HOUSTON, July 13 (UPI) -- A natural gas company announced it received loan commitments of more than $3 billion to fund development of an LNG plant in Louisiana.
Cheniere Energy Partners, which has headquarters in Houston, said it has received firm financial commitments for around $3.4 billion to fund the development of the first two liquefaction trains of the Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas project.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced in April it approved a proposal by Sabine Pass Liquefaction and Sabine Pass LNG to build and operate an LNG facility for exports of U.S. natural gas. It was the federal government's first authorization for LNG exports from the United States.
FERC, in a statement, said its "order finds that the project can be constructed and operated safely and with minimal environmental impacts."
The Sierra Club filed a 51-page formal protest with the U.S. Department of Energy over the decision. The environmental group said the facility could lead to more hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of extraction for natural gas in shale formations.
Chenier owns 100 percent of the Sabine Pass LNG receiving terminal. The terminal has a regasification capacity of 4 billion cubic feet per day.
