Houston, Texas, USA, Aug. 24, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Houston, Texas, Aug 24, 2015 – Texas LNG Brownsville LLC (“Texas LNG”) is pleased to announce that BNP Paribas has been appointed as Financial Adviser for the Brownsville Project. BNP Paribas will assist Texas LNG in the raising of equity and debt financing for the total capital requirements of the Project, including the execution of definitive transaction documents for achieving Final Investment Decision (“FID”) and Project construction.
BNP Paribas is a highly experienced project finance adviser and debt arranger with a global network in over 75 countries. BNP Paribas has been involved in the financing of many LNG projects across the globe and has strong relationships with key Export Credit Agencies and major investors in the LNG sector. BNP Paribas has a comprehensive presence in the United States and its New York and Houston based teams will maintain primary management responsibility for this engagement.
Vivek Chandra, CEO of Texas LNG, noted “The commitment of BNP Paribas to the Texas LNG Project is a testament to the steady progress the Project team and its partners have achieved since project inception in 2013. BNP Paribas joins Third Point LLC, Samsung Engineering & Construction, Air Products, UOP, PSI, Braemar Engineering, NRG, K&L Gates, GreenbergTraurig, Royston Rayzor, and other leading partners in supporting our exciting Project. BNP Paribas’ global footprint will help us develop offtake and investment relationships and ensure that our engineering and commercial agreements support project financing efforts, ensuring that the project schedule remains on track for first deliveries in 2020.”
Texas LNG is planning to build the Brownsville Project in two phases, each with LNG production of 2 million tonnes per annum (“MTA”). Pending FERC’s final approval to construct the Project, Phase 1 is expected to commence production in 2020. FERC regulates the siting, construction, operation, and maintenance of the physical LNG terminal and related infrastructure. More information about the pre-filing process and public participation in the regulatory process can be found at www.ferc.gov.
On July 23, 2015, Texas LNG received a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) from FERC. The EIS, which will be prepared by FERC staff, will examine the potential environmental impacts of the Texas LNG Project. The FERC process included a Public Scoping Meeting which was held on August 11, 2015 in Port Isabel, Texas.
Langtry Meyer, COO of Texas LNG, said “The scoping meeting is a critical component of the regulatory review process. We are pleased to have participated and I thank the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for organizing the event and inviting the public to learn about LNG and provide Texas LNG with constructive comments that will help us site, construct and operate a safe, reliable facility. Texas LNG appreciates the strong support shown by the community to the Project and looks forward to working with all parties to ensure that our Project is a valuable participant in the vibrant Rio Grande Valley community, and that the economic and environmental benefits of LNG are well understood.”
Over the past year, statements of support for the project have been received from federal, state, and local community leaders and organizations, including US Senator John Cornyn, US Congressman Filemon Vela, Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez, Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, Brownsville Economic Development Council, and Port Isabel – San Benito Navigation District. Letters of Support can be viewed on the Texas LNG website (www.txlng.com).
As per the FERC pre-filing requirements, Texas LNG has submitted Resource Reports #1 – General Project Description, #10 – Alternatives, and #4 – Cultural Resources. All remaining Resource Reports are being prepared and will be submitted over the next few months.
Over 60% of FEED has been completed by Texas LNG’s equity and engineering partner, Samsung Engineering, who has deployed a dedicated team of over ninety experienced engineers and project staff at its headquarters, Samsung Global Engineering Center, in Seoul, Korea to the Project. As of the end of July 2015, Samsung Engineering has completed eight out of the 12 month Front End Engineering and Design (“FEED”) study and over 105,000 cumulative engineering man-hours since mid-2014. Engineering efforts are focused on providing cost efficient, reliable, well proven and safe solutions that will use modular construction and shipyard efficiencies and leverage local South Texas labor and company resources.
Key Technology Providers are Air Products (C3MR liquefaction process design), UOP (Gas pretreatment), Matrix PDM (LNG storage tank), Gexcon (vapor dispersion studies), Moffatt & Nichol (marine construction), PSI (geotechnical studies) and Marin (navigation studies).
Texas LNG remains on track to delivering first shipments of LNG in 2020.
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About Texas LNG
Texas LNG Brownsville LLC is an independent Houston-based energy company engaged in LNG related businesses. Key members of its management and technical team have extensive LNG, gas and large engineering and construction global project experience, as well as long-term relationships in LNG markets. The company is focused on speed to market, LNG offtake flexibility, efficient use of capital, and creative technical solutions, and is well positioned to commence Phase 1 production of 2 MTA of LNG for export to FTA and non-FTA markets in 2020.
Texas LNG’s initial project will be constructed at the Port of Brownsville in Brownsville, South Texas. Texas LNG’s 625 acre site is strategically located on the north shore of the Port of Brownsville's deepwater ship channel in proximity to natural gas supplies. Additional information about Texas LNG may be found on its website at www.txlng.com.
About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas has a presence in 75 countries with more than 185,000 employees, including 145,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its two core activities: Retail Banking & Services (comprised of Domestic Markets and International Financial Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across Mediterranean basin countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia-Pacific.
Cautionary Statement:
The information and materials in this document are; Provided for informational purposes only and are subject to addition, deletion and modification without notice at the sole discretion of Texas LNG LLC and Texas LNG Brownsville LLC ; Not warranted or guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date. The information and materials could include technical inaccuracies and other errors. ; Provided “As Is” without any representation or warranties of any kind. No liability, direct or consequential, of any kind arising from the use of information and materials contained in this document or linked website is accepted. ; Not to be considered or to be constituted as investment advice or as any type of offer, offer, invitation, solicitation or recommendation in relation to the purchase or sale of any type of financial instruments or security in any jurisdiction.
Any forward looking statements contained in the information and materials in this document are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, many of which are outside the control of Texas LNG LLC or Texas LNG Brownsville LLC or its officers or representatives. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include commodity prices, currency fluctuations, economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions, environmental risks and legislative, fiscal or regulatory developments, political risks, project delay or advancement, approvals and cost estimates. Actual values, results or events may be materially different to those expressed or implied in this document. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place reliance on forward looking statements.