Freeport LNG commissions second 5 Mt/year LNG train (US)

Freeport LNG has commissioned the second 5 Mt/year (6.75 bcm/year) liquefaction train of the 15 Mt/year (20.2 bcm/year) Freeport LNG plant on Quintana Island in Freeport, Texas (United States), with the start of LNG deliveries from BP under its 20-year tolling agreement. It had produced its first LNG in December 2019.

The Freeport LNG project consists of three 5 Mt/year liquefaction trains, built on the site of an existing LNG import terminal. The first train started to produce LNG in August 2019 and was commissioned in December 2019. The construction of the third train is essentially complete. It expects to receive the approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to feed gas into the plant in February 2020 and to start LNG production in May 2020. All three LNG trains should then be fully operational by mid-2020. A fourth train - also be rated 5 Mt/year (6.75 bcm/year) - could be commissioned as of 2023, raising the liquefaction plant's capacity to 20 Mt/year (27 bcm/year).

Around 13.5 Mt/year (18.2 bcm/year) has already been contracted under 20-year tolling agreements to Osaka Gas, JERA (the joint venture of TEPCO and Chubu Electric), BP, Total and SK E&S. Osaka Gas and JERA will each lift 2.3 Mt/year (3.1 bcm/year) of LNG from the first train. An additional 0.5 Mt/year (0.67 bcm/year) will be sold to Trafigura under a 3-year sales and purchase agreement starting in 2020.