Xcoal to start up LNG business

Xcoal Energy & Resources LLC has announced plans to develop a business to export LNG, reports Bloomberg.

Speaking at the IHS CERAWEEk Energy Conference in Houston, Texas, US, the company’s CEO, Ernie Thrasher, said that he is starting XLNG Energy & Resources, with plans to export LNG by no later than 2018.

Thrasher said: “Gas is going to continue to grow at an accelerated rate […] Coal will grow, but maybe at a moderated rate. I owe it to the people in our organisation and the suppliers we have to make sure that we’re ahead of that curve.”

Xcoal is currently the largest US exporter of coal, and Thrasher believes that an LNG export business would complement the company’s existing business: “We’re looking to take advantage of the synergies of our global coal presence […] We have a number of our global customers who are quite interested in the possibility of LNG from US origins. We want to get involved in that decision-making process as existing contracts with these customers expire and they start to plan for long-term renewal,” added Thrasher.

Edited from various sources by Callum O'Reilly

Source: Bloomberg.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/23042015/xcoal-to-start-up-lng-business-633/