HOUSTON (Reuters) -U.S. pipeline operator Energy Transfer ( ET ) will not give its Lake Charles liquefied natural gas export facility in Louisiana a financial go ahead until 80% of the project has been sold to equity partners, company executives said on Wednesday on a post-earnings call.

Energy Transfer ( ET ) has been developing the 16.5 million metric tonnes per annum LNG export facility in Louisiana, and has sold most of the expected production to long-term customers, but has faced rising project costs and wants to share the risk with other equity partners.

The company earlier this year signed a non-binding agreement with MidOcean Energy to jointly develop the Lake Charles LNG export facility.

MidOcean is expected to pay for 30% of the construction costs of the facility and receive 30% of the LNG production, or roughly 5 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA).