Corpus Christi LNG project received 20-year export authorisation (US)

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has issued an order authorising Cheniere to export LNG from its Corpus Christi Liquefaction(CCL) facility stage 3 (Trains 4 and 5) located in San Patricio and Nueces Counties, Texas. Cheniere has been allowed to export up to 514 bcf/year (14.5 bcm/year) of natural gas for a 20-year period. The company is authorised to export LNG to countries that hold a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)* with the US. Corpus Christi Liquefaction’s request to export LNG from Trains 4 and 5 to non-FTA countries is still pending.

Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction project is currently under construction and presently consists of Trains 1-3, three LNG storage tanks, two marine berths, and associated facilities. Under the Stage 3 expansion project, Cheniere intends to add two 5 Mt/year (6.75 bcm/year) liquefaction trains and a fourth storage LNG tank. Cheniere anticipates that construction of the Stage 3 project will commence by 2017, with exports commencing as early as 2021.

In October 2012, CCL received a 25-year FTA to export up to 767 bcf/year (21.7 bcm/year) of natural gas from its three liquefaction trains 1, 2, and 3. In May 2015, the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project received non-FTA authorisation for the the same volume of gas. Accordingly, the new order from the DoE brings Corpus Christi Liquefaction’s total authorized FTA export volume to 1,281 bcf/year (36.3 bcm/year) from Trains 1-5 of the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project.

*: FTA allow companies to export gas to Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Republic of Korea, and Singapore.