Venture Global decides to build Louisiana Plaquemines LNG export plant

May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Venture Global LNG said on Wednesday it made a final investment decision (FID) to build the proposed Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana.

Venture Global said in a release it closed on the $13.2 billion project financing for the initial 13.33 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) phase of the project and associated Gator Express pipeline.

The decision comes as LNG prices around the world have soared to meet growing demand in Asia and European countries seeks to break their dependence on Russian gas after Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Plaquemines is the first U.S. LNG project to reach financial close since Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass in August 2019. Calcasieu delivered its first LNG earlier this year.

Venture Global said it has 20-year agreements to sell LNG covering about 80% of the full 20-MTPA Plaquemines project.

Customers signed up to take LNG from the first 13.33-MTPA phase at Plaquemines include units of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) , Shell PLC, Polish Oil and Gas Co (PGNiG) and Electricite de France.

Customers for Plaquemines second phase include units of Exxon Mobil Corp, PETRONAS and New Fortress Energy Inc .

Venture Global said it was actively marketing its proposed CP2 plant, which would be its third export facility in Louisiana, and already has contracts to sell CP2 LNG to ExxonMobil and New Fortress.

Venture Global started early site work on Plaquemines, which is located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of New Orleans, in 2021.

Plaquemines includes modular liquefaction trains similar to systems at Calcasieu.

In total, Venture Global has about 70 MTPA of LNG export capacity in operation, construction or development in Louisiana, including the 10-MTPA Calcasieu (operation and construction), 20-MTPA Plaquemines (construction), 20-MTPA Delta (development) and 20-MTPA CP2 (development).

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Nick Zieminski)