Venture Global raises $3 billion towards building CP2 Louisiana LNG plant

By Curtis Williams

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Venture Global has raised $3 billion in debt finance towards the construction of its CP2 LNG plant in Louisiana, which would be the largest single liquefied natural gas plant in the U.S., the company said on Thursday.

Venture Global is the U.S.' second-largest LNG exporter and has played a key role in making the country the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas.

The money raised will be used as part of the construction costs for the CP2 facility, which will have capacity to produce 28 million tonnes per annum of LNG, Venture Global said.

"This new capital, on top of the more than $4 billion we have already invested to date, will enable continued fabrication, manufacturing and procurement at an accelerated pace, similar to Plaquemines," said Venture Global's CEO Mike Sabel, referring to another of the company's LNG export facilities.

Two of the processing plants, also called trains, for the CP2 export facility will arrive in the U.S. in the coming months from Europe, Venture Global said in a statement.

The project is yet to receive a final financial go-ahead from Venture Global.

(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Nia Williams)