Freeport LNG announced on Wednesday that the third of the company’s three LNG storage tanks had been returned to service with the approval of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The storage tank had been offline for nearly three years after LNG piping to the tank was damaged in the June 2022 incident at Freeport LNG’s natural gas liquefaction and LNG export facility.
Following the incident in 2022, Freeport received approval from FERC for commercial operations of Phase 1 in February 2023.
This phase includes all three trains, LNG storage tanks 1 and 2, and dock 1.
Thereafter, Freeport received approval from FERC for commercial operations of Phase 2 in November 2023. This phase includes LNG loop 2 and dock 2.
Moreover, Phase 3 restoration work included the inspection, repair, and replacement of impacted infrastructure associated with LNG storage tank 3 and its piping systems and ancillary components from the incident.
Freeport wrote to FERC on April 28 that it has completed Phase 3 restoration work in accordance with the FERC-approved remedial work plans.
On April 30, FERC authorized the commissioning and cooldown of Phase 3 following Freeport’s request.
Freeport recently sought approval from FERC to place its third LNG tank back into commercial operations.
Returning the third LNG storage tank safely back into service is the final phase of the company’s recovery and restoration work that followed the incident, the LNG terminal operator said.
Record production
Since the incident, Freeport LNG has implemented “significant improvements” to its organization, doubling the size of its operations and maintenance workforce and strengthening key leadership positions across the company, including at president, CFO, and COO, it said.
Simultaneously with the company’s June 8th recovery efforts, the above organizational changes and its improvements in process safety and reliable operations, the company completed a debottlenecking project that increased its LNG production capacity.
“Over the past year, despite operating with only two of its three LNG storage tanks in service, Freeport LNG has safely achieved record LNG production rates, most recently achieving an all-time company record LNG production month in April 2025,” Freeport LNG said.
Last year, Freeport said that it completed most of its debottlenecking project, which will increase the terminal’s production capacity from an excess of 15 mtpa to just over 16.5 mtpa.
The project resulted in the installation of additional compressor capacity across the facility’s three liquefaction unit trains.
Besides the debottlenecking project, Freeport LNG’s planned train 4, which has received all regulatory approvals, would add an additional 25 percent LNG production capacity.
