Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources Inc. is submitting a 12,000-page application to federal regulators to build a $3.4 billion plant in southern Maryland to export liquefied natural gas.

Dominion announced Monday it has deals in place with energy companies in Japan and India to buy the gas that would be produced there. Dominion wants to expand its existing Cove Point plant in Lusby, Md., to produce liquefied natural gas for export. The facility would take advantage of the natural gas boom in the mid-Atlantic associated with the Marcellus shale formation.

Exporting gas allows Dominion to receive a much higher price than on the domestic market.

- Associated Press