OREANDA-NEWS. Two US Gulf coast LNG export projects have progressed in the regulatory process.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) yesterday authorized a proposed expansion of the Cameron LNG export terminal being built near Hackberry, Louisiana.

In addition, NextDecade yesterday applied to FERC for authorization to build its proposed Rio Grande LNG terminal near Brownsville, Texas, and the 137-mile (220km) Rio Bravo pipeline to bring feed gas from the Eagle Ford shale.

The FERC process can cost up to $100mn-$150mn for complex LNG projects because of the detailed environmental and engineering studies that are required.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy and its partners have proposed adding two liquefaction trains to the three they already building at Cameron LNG. Sempra would make a final investment decision (FID) on train 4, while its partners would make a separate FID on train 5.

Trains 1-3 are scheduled to start operating in 2018 and reach full production in 2019. Each train would have peak capacity of about 5mn t/yr, equivalent to 700mn cf/d (19.8mn m?/d) of gas. Sempra likely would need to sell about 4mn t/yr of long-term capacity from train 4 to finance that unit.

Sempra said this week it is still optimistic it can sell enough long-term liquefaction capacity at train 4 to make an FID late this year, which would allow that unit to start production in late 2019. Sempra likely would need to sell about 4mn t/yr of capacity from train 4 to finance that unit. Sempra's partners have not commented on train 5.

Sempra owns 50.2pc of trains 1-3, with France's GDF Suez and Japanese trading houses Mitsubishi and Mitsui each owning 16.6pc, for a combined 49.8pc. GDF Suez, Mitsubishi and Mitsui each own 4mn t/yr of capacity from trains 1-3.

NextDecade plans to make an FID on its $23bn-$27bn project in mid-2017. The project would have capacity of up to 27mn t/yr and has signed non-binding agreements with Asian and European customers for 26mn t/yr, it said. But it would need to finalize contracts to get financing, and that has become difficult to do with low oil prices, as the economics of US exports are based on a wide differential between domestic gas prices and global oil prices. Most long-term Asian LNG contracts are linked to oil prices.