The tanker docked for the past month at U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Venture Global LNG’s Plaquemines export plant under construction in Louisiana had left by Tuesday morning, according to data provider LSEG.

Energy analysts said that was likely a sign the plant was getting closer to producing and exporting its own LNG.

The tanker, called Qogir, arrived at Plaquemines from Norway full of LNG in late August. It left the plant with less LNG, according to the LSEG data.

Energy analysts have said Venture Global used some of that LNG to cool down areas of the facility as part of the commissioning process to get the plant ready to produce its own LNG for export.

Officials at Venture Global were not immediately available for comment.

LNG plants under construction, like Plaquemines, use the super-chilled gas to test and cool equipment in preparation for the start of production.

Plaquemines started pulling in very small amounts of natural gas from U.S. pipelines in late June. Analysts have said the plant could start turning pipeline gas into LNG in test mode in the coming weeks or months.

Venture Global has said that building the two phases at Plaquemines would entail an investment of about $21 billion.

Analysts have said they expect Venture Global to complete work on the first 1.8-billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) phase of Plaquemines from 2024 to 2026 and the second 1.2-bcfd phase from 2025 to 2026.

The United States is already the world’s biggest LNG exporter with seven export plants able to turn about 13.8 bcfd of gas into about 104.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG.

One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about five million U.S. homes for a day.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)