UPDATE 2-First LNG cargo from Venture Global's Plaquemines plant heads to Germany

Recasts with Venture Global's statement

By Anjana Anil and Swati Verma

Dec 26 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Venture Global LNG's tanker Venture Bayou has departed the Plaquemines export plant in Louisiana for Germany, carrying the first LNG cargo produced at the facility, the company said on Thursday.

Venture Bayou, one of the company's fleet of nine new LNG ships, is being sent to German utility company EnBW EBKG.DE, the company said.

Venture Global has now sent more than 60 LNG cargoes to Germany since 2022, it added.

According to ship tracking data from financial firm LSEG, the vessel is expected to head to Brunsbuttel, Germany and will likely arrive there by Jan. 8.

The U.S. is the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas and a key provider of gas to Europe in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Like Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass project, Plaquemines has exported its first cargo well ahead of the U.S. Department of Energy’s requirement to commence exports within 7 years from issuance of the Non-FTA export authorization, the company said.

"In just five years, Venture Global has built, produced and launched exports from two large-scale LNG projects which has never been done before in the history of the industry,” the company's CEO Mike Sabel said in a statement.

Venture Global has two operating plants in Louisiana, including the 20 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) Plaquemines export plant, which recently began producing first LNG.

The plant currently under construction in Louisiana is already over budget by more than $2.35 billion.

Plaquemines will produce and export LNG while construction and commissioning continues for the remainder of the project's 36 trains and associated facilities, it said.

When fully completed Plaquemines will be one of the largest LNG plants in the world and help keep the U.S. ranked as the world's largest LNG exporter.

The company earlier this month filed for what could be one of the largest initial public offerings globally next year.

(Reporting by Anjana Anil, Swati Verma and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

((Ashitha.Shivaprasad@thomsonreuters.com;))