Cheniere’s Corpus Christi plant currently liquefies natural gas at three operational trains, each with a capacity of about 5 mtpa.
In addition, Cheniere just produced the first cargo at the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project in Texas.
This project includes building seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa.
The CCL midscale trains 8 and 9 project will include two trains, nearly identical in design to trains 1-7 and each capable of producing up to 1.64 mtpa of LNG, on-site refrigerant storage, a 220,000-cbm LNG storage tank, a BOG compressor, and an increase in the authorized LNG loading rate.
The project could have a capacity of about 5 mtpa when debottlenecking potential is included.
Cheniere told LNG Prime in May 2024 that the company is on track to take a final investment decision (FID) in 2025 to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant.
“We are committed to getting Corpus Christi mid-scale trains 8 and 9 to FID. As I just mentioned, we look forward to receiving the remaining regulatory permits in the near future and are taking the steps necessary in preparation for an FID later this year,” Fusco said during the company’s earnings call on Thursday.
“During 2024, we locked in approximately half a billion dollars of long-lead time equipment and other costs under limited notices to proceed with Bechtel related to trains 8 and 9, helping to ensure the project can maximize efficiencies on both cost and schedule,” he said.
Over 90 mtpa
Besides the Corpus Christi expansion, Cheniere also plans to build two new liquefaction trains as part of the Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project to add up to 20 mtpa of capacity to the giant 30 mtpa facility in Louisiana.
Cheniere needs both FERC and DOE approvals for this project.
Last month, President Donald Trump lifted a moratorium on non-FTA LNG export permits by the former Biden administration.
Trump issued the executive order, which was widely expected, just hours after officially taking over his second four-year term as the president.
“We intend to strategically pursue permits to ensure the long-term growth optionality of our Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities,” Fusco said.
“We are actively engaged with the new administration and are very encouraged by the early action and stated policy goals prioritizing a clear, transparent, and durable permitting process,” he said.
“Given that improvement in the permitting environment for LNG projects here in the US, which is a stark contrast from just a few months ago, we have an opportunity and a strategic imperative to secure permits for significant growth at both Sabine and Corpus in order to de-risk the permitting requirements of future project development, with line of sight to a total capacity of over 90 million tonnes per annum,” Fusco said.
“We will, of course, always adhere to our disciplined capital investment parameters so that any incremental capacity is likely to be built under a phased approach while optimizing our brownfield advantages at both facilities. But while we have this window, we intend to aggressively pursue permits at both sites and give ourselves a path to potentially more than double our current operating capacity once permits and our accretive economics align,” he added.
