The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted environmental approval for the proposed $10 billion Golden Pass LNG export project to be built at the existing import facility in Sabine Pass, Texas.
The LNG export project would have “no significant impact on the environment when recommended mitigation measures are implemented,” FERC said in its final environmental impact statement.
“This key milestone moves the project into the final stages of permitting,” Golden Pass said in a statement after the approval on Friday.
Qatar Petroleum owns 70 percent of the Golden Pass joint venture with ExxonMobil holding 30 percent.
Currently, the Golden Pass LNG terminal facilities include five 155,000 cubic meter LNG storage tanks, two marine berths and process facilities capable of regasifying LNG to produce about 2 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day.
The proposed liquefaction facilities include three trains totaling 15.6 million metric tons per annum of production capacity.
Golden Pass said it expects to complete permitting in 2017.
Following a decision on investment, the project would invest approximately $10 billion over five years to build the liquefaction facilities.
During its 25-year operations phase, the project is expected to generate about 3,800 jobs in the United States, including more than 200 permanent jobs at the site, according to Golden Pass.
The project has received U.S. Department of Energy authorization for exports to free trade agreement countries and awaits DOE authorization to export to non-free trade agreement nations.