據離岸工程網站1月19日報道，美國液化天然氣開發商Delfin LNG表示，計劃在2022年做出最終投資決定（FID），以推進其在路易斯安那州附近的墨西哥灣浮式LNG出口項目。

Delfin首席執行官達德利·波斯頓本周對路透社表示：“這是液化天然氣業務有史以來最好的宏觀環境。我非常有信心公司今年將做出最終投資決定。”

Delfin是十幾個北美LNG出口項目中的首個，推遲了2020和2021年開始建造的決定，部分原因是需求破壞使得客戶不愿簽署足夠的長期交易來資助數十億美元的設施。

波斯頓表示：“我們現在看到液化天然氣買家最具可持續性的興趣……這是我們多年來所看到的，Delfin只需要兩到三個買家。”

“我們已經在就合同進行討論，討論的內容超過了第一艘船的需要。我們只需要讓其中的幾個買家越過這條線。”

Delfin的項目將利用現有的海上管道向最多四艘船舶供應天然氣，每艘船舶每年可生產約350萬噸的液化天然氣。

波斯頓表示，每艘船只將耗資約20億美元，第一艘預計在2026年左右投入使用，即四年后做出最終投資決定。

在第一次最終投資決定之后，波斯頓表示Delfin將開始其Avocet項目的工作，該項目將增加兩艘350萬噸/年液化船。

吳恒磊 編譯自 離岸工程

原文如下：

Delfin Plans Louisiana Floating LNG FID in 2022

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Delfin LNG said it plans to make a final investment decision (FID) to go forward with its Gulf of Mexico floating LNG export project off Louisiana in 2022.

"This is the best macro-environment that the LNG business has ever seen," Delfin Chief Executive Dudley Poston told Reuters this week, noting he was "very confident" the company would make FID this year.

Delfin is one of a dozen or so North American LNG export projects that delayed decisions to start construction in 2020 and 2021 in part because coronavirus demand destruction made customers unwilling to sign enough long-term deals needed to finance the multibillion-dollar facilities.

"We're now seeing the most sustainable interest from LNG buyers ... that we've seen in years and Delfin only needs two to three buyers," Poston said.

"We're already in contractual discussions for more than we need for the first vessel. We just need to get a couple of those guys across the line."

Delfin's project would use existing offshore pipelines to supply gas to up to four vessels that could each produce about 3.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG.

Poston said each vessel would cost about $2 billion with the first expected to enter service around 2026, four years after the FID.

After the first FID, Poston said Delfin would start working on its Avocet project, which would add two more 3.5-MTPA liquefaction vessels.