European energy giants have formally requested that the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denies a permit extension for Venture Global LNG's Calcasieu Pass export facility in Louisiana, reported Reuters.

Shell, Edison, Repsol, Orlen and Galp Energia contend that the LNG plant has been completed, but Venture Global LNG has not delivered contracted LNG cargoes to them.

Last month, Venture Global sought either a one-year extension from the FERC for the completion of its Calcasieu Pass plant, citing the need for additional time, or to declare that the permission has been fulfilled because the plant's liquefaction units are operating.

The facility's commissioning has been delayed by malfunctioning power equipment, reported Reuters.

However, this move has been met with resistance from European companies that have long-term contracts with Venture Global LNG but claim they have not received their shipments.

Shell was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Shell LNG respectfully requests that the Commission find the Extension Request, in its conditional form, to be moot and summarily deny it.”

Edison has urged the FERC to mandate Venture Global to provide commissioning documents to substantiate its request for an extension.

Repsol and Galp have expressed their inability to engage fully in the 15-day intervention period due to the lack of access to these documents.

The European companies allege that Venture Global LNG has been marketing gas from the plant to other customers for more than a year, resulting in significant profit losses for them.

Venture Global has responded to the claims by urging the FERC to dismiss the "myriad claims of BP, Shell, and Orlen".

The company contends that these objections are untimely for the ongoing deliberations and lack a legitimate basis for demanding that the FERC discloses operational details of the plant.