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ARLINGTON, Va., March 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Venture Global LNG is announcing a final investment decision (FID) and successful closing of the $7.8 billion project financing for the second phase of the Plaquemines LNG facility. Together, phase one and phase two represent approximately $21 billion of investment, the largest project financing ever done. The proceeds of the debt and equity financing fully fund the balance of construction and commissioning of the second phase of the 20MTPA nameplate capacity project. Today, the company also issued a full notice to proceed to KZJV to continue construction on phase two of Plaquemines LNG.
"Venture Global is proud to announce a positive Final Investment Decision (FID) for phase two of Plaquemines LNG, less than 10 months after sanctioning phase one," said Mike Sabel, CEO of Venture Global LNG. "Our company's continued ability to commercialize, obtain financing and build our projects in an extremely competitive market is a testament to our team's proven track record of discipline and execution. I would like to thank our customers, lenders, advisors, construction partners and local partners in Louisiana for their continued support. Our team will continue to deliver on our mission to bring more clean, low-cost US LNG to the global market in the coming years to support the world's rapidly growing demand for energy."
Plaquemines LNG has received all necessary permits, including FERC authorization and non-FTA export authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy. Plaquemines LNG phase two customers include ExxonMobil, Chevron, EnBW, New Fortress Energy, PETRONAS, China Gas and Excelerate Energy. Marketing is actively underway for the company's third facility, CP2 LNG, and SPAs have been signed by CP2 LNG with Exxon Mobil, Chevron, EnBW, INPEX, China Gas and New Fortress Energy.
The lender group for the construction financing includes the world's leading banks. The lenders who provided funding at closing are: BBVA, Banco Santander, Bank of America, Bank of China, Caixa Bank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, ICBC Standard, ING, J.P. Morgan Chase, LBBW, Mizuho, MUFG, Natixis, Royal Bank of Canada, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, The Bank of Nova Scotia, Wells Fargo Bank, National Bank of Canada, KfW Ipex-Bank, Helaba, DZ Bank and Regions Bank.
ING, Santander, Mizuho, Scotia, and SMBC served as Lead Banks to Venture Global for the transaction. Latham & Watkins LLP served as counsel to Venture Global and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as counsel to the lenders.
About Venture Global LNG
Venture Global is a long-term, low-cost provider of U.S. LNG sourced from resource rich North American natural gas basins. Venture Global's first facility, Calcasieu Pass, commenced producing first LNG in January 2022. The company is also constructing or developing an additional 60 MTPA of production capacity in Louisiana to provide clean, affordable energy to the world. The company is developing Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) projects at each of its LNG facilities.