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Port board approves one-year extension of Lake Charles Methanol option agreement
Summary
The Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District voted Sept. 25 to authorize an amendment extending the option agreement with Lake Charles Methanol 2 through Dec. 31, 2026, contingent on a $267,000 payment and continuation of monthly option payments.
The Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District voted Sept. 25 to authorize an amendment extending the option agreement with Lake Charles Methanol 2 through Dec. 31, 2026, contingent on a $267,000 payment and continuation of monthly option payments.
At a regular meeting, board member Mister Selkirk introduced the item, saying it would extend the district’s option agreement with the methanol project. Marty Diverges, chief accounting and administrative officer for Lake Charles Methanol 2, told the board the company has paid about $3.4 million in option payments to date and proposed paying a portion of past-due rent with the new extension. “We’re proposing now, because we believe that the project is going to move forward within the next year, we’re asking for another extension of the option agreement, and with that payment of a fourth of the past due rent that that has been there,” Diverges said.
Diverges and company representatives said the project has new leadership and off-takers for “blue methanol,” and that finalizing an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract and securing federal tax credits are critical near-term steps. He said the company had changed EPC contractors about a year ago and that substantial changes to the plot plan had been made to reduce construction risk.
A board member asked whether the agreement includes requirements to clean up the property. Diverges responded affirmatively during the discussion. After a motion to approve the amendment and a second, the board chair declared the item passed without a recorded roll-call vote.
The amendment authorizes the executive director to execute the extension and accept the stated payments; the board did not record a roll-call tally in the public minutes recorded in the meeting transcript.
Supporters of the extension told the board the company expects the project to move forward if it can finalize financing and construction contracts in the coming year. No documents or financing commitments beyond the statements made by company representatives were presented at the meeting.
The board moved on to other agenda items after approving the amendment.
