HOUSTON (Reuters) - Pipeline operator Energy Transfer has signed a preliminary contract with a consortium to build its proposed Lake Charles liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, a filing with federal regulators on Thursday shows.

The Technip Energies and KBR deal is subject to a final investment decision (FID) for the Lake Charles LNG project in Louisiana, Energy Transfer said in a filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Terms were not disclosed.

Energy Transfer has been trying to develop the project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, since 2015 but has not signed enough customers for the proposed 16.5 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) facility to move it ahead. It has two missed its targets for reaching FID.

The project also requires a U.S. permit to export the superchilled gas to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States, so called non-FTA countries.

In 2023, the U.S Department of Energy denied Energy Transfer's request for a second extension to export to non-FTA countries and the company subsequently filed a request for a new permit.

(Reporting by Curtis Williams)