UPDATE 1-Venture Global LNG says it won't provide confidential documents unless ordered
(Adds company statement in paragraph 3, background and context in paragraphs 4-10)
HOUSTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Venture Global LNG on Monday told U.S. regulators it will not provide energy firms Repsol SA and Galp Energia with confidential documents on a Louisiana export terminal's operations unless ordered to do so.
Repsol and Galp have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require U.S. LNG exporter Venture Global to disclose commissioning reports submitted to the regulator for its Calcasieu Pass LNG project.
The Arlington, Virginia-based exporter said it "opposes the requests of Repsol and Galp for confidential documents and ... will not provide any such documents unless and until explicitly ordered to do so by the Commission."
Venture on Feb. 15 asked the commission for a one year extension to complete construction of its Calcasieu Pass gas-export plant, or receive assurances the plant did not need an extension.
The company has argued that it is unable to move the plant from a commissioning phase to commercial operations because it has not finished fixing electrical problems.
Customers, including Galp and Repsol, have been denied contracted cargoes of the superchilled gas, they have said, even as Venture has sold more than 275 cargoes on the open market during what it calls the plant's pre-commissioning phase.
Repsol and Galp have asked FERC to see documents submitted by Venture to the regulator to evaluate the company's commissioning claims.
BP PLC, Shell PLC and Edison SPA also raised issues with the proposed extension request and have ongoing contract arbitration claims against Venture Global for its failure to deliver their cargoes.
Venture said it will respond to Shell, Edison and BP when they file their entire objection. (Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
