US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced the approval during a visit to the Corpus Christi LNG plant in Texas last week.
According to a DOE statement, he signed an export authorization for a 12 percent expansion in exports.
This authorization allows additional exports of up to 0.47 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of US natural gas as LNG to non-free trade agreement (non-FTA) countries from Trains 8 and 9 of the Corpus Christi Stage 3 project, known as the Midscale Trains 8 & 9 project.
With this order, Corpus Christi LNG is now authorized to export a total of 4.45 Bcf/d, making it the second-largest LNG export project in the US, the statement said.
In June 2025, Cheniere made a positive final investment decision to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant in Texas.
The company also issued full notice to proceed to Bechtel.
The CCL midscale trains 8 and 9 project is being built adjacent to the Corpus Christi Stage 3 project and consists of two midscale trains with an expected total liquefaction capacity of over 3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG and other debottlenecking infrastructure.
Upon completion of these expansion projects, and together with expected debottlenecking, the Corpus Christi LNG terminal is expected to reach over 30 mtpa in total liquefaction capacity later this decade, according to Cheniere.
In addition to these projects, Cheniere received approval from FERC to initiate the environmental pre-filing review for its Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage 4 project.
The trains will have a peak production capacity of approximately 24 mtpa of LNG.
