(Inserts dropped word in headline) By Curtis Williams HOUSTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Federal regulators on Thursday approved a request from Venture Global for more time to keep its Plaquemines LNG plant in Louisiana in a commissioning stage before declaring the start of full commercial operations, a regulatory filing showed. Extending the commissioning phase allows Venture Global to sell the liquefied natural gas on the spot market at higher prices than under long-term contracts that apply during full operations. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that said that while two of Venture Global's long-term customers for the facility - Chevron and Orlen - asked to provide input, neither raised an objection to the extension request. An arbitration tribunal found last week that Venture Global breached an agreement with BP BP.L to declare timely commercial operations at its separate Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana. The LNG producer's shares have declined 36% over the past month amid the ruling and lower realized liquefaction fees in the second quarter. "As we stated previously, this in-service extension request is a standard procedural step that has been granted for all other LNG projects including Driftwood, Port Arthur, Lake Charles, Freeport, etc. This has nothing to do with the timing" for commercial deliveries, Venture Global said on Thursday. Venture Global asked FERC last month to give it until December 31, 2027 to keep the Plaquemines plant in commissioning, citing issues including challenges that first originated during the COVID pandemic. The original deadline for putting the 27.2 million metric tons per annum export facility into full service was September 30, 2026. Plaquemines LNG has been planning to place all its Phase 1 facilities in service during the fourth quarter of 2026, and the remaining Phase 2 facilities in-service by mid-2027. (Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
