Delfin Offshore Pipeline

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Delfin Offshore Pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline.

Location

The pipeline is an offshore 700 ft bypass that connects the UTOS Gas Pipeline and the High Island Offshore Gas Pipeline System at West Cameron lease block 167, in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Project details

• Operator: Delfin LNG LLC
• Owner: Delfin LNG LLC
• Parent company:
• Capacity: 657 MMcf/d*
• Length: 700 feet
• Status: Proposed
• Diameter: 42
• Start year: 2027-2029 (also based on Delfin FLNG Terminal)
  • Delayed, start year originally 2021–2022, then 2026
• Cost: US$8 billion*
• Associated infrastructure: Delfin FLNG Terminal, UTOS Gas Pipeline, High Island Offshore Gas Pipeline System, Grand Chenier Pipeline

*The capacity and cost might refer to entirety of Delfin LNG pipeline system and project, not only to the new bypass connecting the UTOS and High Island Offshore System pipelines)

Background

The project was originally proposed by Delfin LNG, a subsidiary of Fairwood Peninsula Energy. In November 2013, Delfin LNG filed an application with the Department of Energy (DOE) seeking to construct, own, and operate a deepwater port with floating liquefaction and export facilities, and related onshore facilities, in West Cameron Block 167 in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 30 miles offshore of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The facility, Delfin FLNG Terminal, would produce 657.5 Bcf/yr of natural gas to export to countries with whom the U.S. does not have free trade agreements. It would consist of four semi-permanently moored floating LNG vessels, each capable of storing 210,000 cubic meters of LNG, and with a production capacity of 3.3 mtpa of the chilled fuel each.

Golar LNG had been a primary financier of the project, but pulled out in August of 2019, citing a lack of co-investors and reliable customers.

In April 2023, the developers announced an agreement to sell LNG from the Delfin FLNG Terminal.

As of March 2024, Deflin Midstream, owner of Delfin LNG LCC, "is seeking a five-year extension for its LNG export authorizations from the US Department of Energy", and now "has until September 28, 2027, to construct and make available for service the onshore facilities." The Delfin LNG project "has the needed financial support to read FID and proceed with its first FLNG," according to the firm.

Offshore facility

Due to its offshore location, the environmental review of Delfin was led by the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard on behalf of the DOE. The Delfin FLNG facility was approved by MARAD in March 2017.

In June 2017, after receiving DOE approval, Delfin LNG announced that it would build the floating facility in partnership with Golar LNG. In September 2017 the Delfin FLNG project was approved by FERC. It is now the only the only permitted FLNG facility in the U.S.

Onshore facility and repurposed pipelines

The Delfin FLNG would connect to U.S. natural gas pipelines and transmission systems through the reuse and repurposing of two existing offshore pipelines, a new bypass connecting them (the Delfin LNG pipeline), and several proposed 30-inch diameter offshore pipeline laterals. Construction of an onshore facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana was approved by FERC in September 2017.

Delfin LNG project's pipeline network, including the Grand Chenier Pipeline System, the High Island Offshore Pipeline (HIOS), and the UTOS pipeline, as well as the Delfin Offshore pipeline, which is the proposed bypass to connect the HIOS and UTOS pipelines. Modified from https://jpt.spe.org/mol-invests-in-delfin-flng-project

The Delfin LNG project plans to deliver fossil gas "through two existing offshore natural gas pipelines of the former U-T Offshore System (UTOS) and the High Island Offshore System (HIOS) to be liquefied on four moored FLNGVs and transferred to LNG carriers." To do this, "a new 700-foot 42-inch diameter pipeline would be constructed to bypass an existing offshore platform at West Cameron lease block 167 (WC 167) and connect the UTOS and HIOS pipelines." Additionally, Delfin Midstream, owner of Delfin LNG LCC, also owns the offshore Grand Chenier pipeline, which is planned to be used to support the growth and expansion of its deepwater projects, including the Delfin LNG project.

U.S. export strategy

With the U.S. set to become a net exporter of natural gas in 2017, the Delfin FLNG facility will play a key role in shipping U.S. natural gas abroad. During President Donald Trump's November 2017 trip to China, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed to facilitate the purchase of natural gas by China Gas Holdings from Delfin LNG. Delfin LNG is also borrowing money from "unnamed" Chinese banks, according to CNBC, to pay for the estimated $8 billion cost of the Delfin FLNG.

Opposition

In June 2015 the Center for Biological Diversity submitted a Motion To Intervene with FERC against the Delfin FLNG facility. The motion states: "The Center, on behalf of its members, strongly believes that the Project’s construction and operation, including exporting U.S. natural gas abroad, is not in the “public interest” because it will: (1) increase natural gas drilling in the United States, including the use of dangerous, controversial, and inadequately-regulated onshore and offshore hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” methods that contaminate water, degrade habitat, pollute the air, and require huge quantities of water; (2) harm wildlife and habitat and diminish air and water quality; (3) increase global warming due to emissions from wells, the energy intensive process of liquefying natural gas, and the ultimate use of the product; and (4) cause an increase in domestic gas prices for American homeowners. C.f. 18 C.F.R. § 153.7(c). Our members will be directly affected by the construction and operation of the Project."