(Reuters) -Cheniere Energy on Monday said it produced first liquefied natural gas (LNG)from a new Texas facility, becoming the second new U.S. export plant this year to increase supplies of the superchilled gas.
The U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of LNG and production of superchilled gas from Cheniere’s Stage 3 and Venture Global’s Plaquemines plants are expected to keep the U.S. as the top exporter of LNG in 2025.
Cheniere said first LNG at the new Corpus Christi, Texas, plant was produced two and a half years after it gave its main contractor Bechtel Energy the go ahead to build the 10 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) plant.
Train 1 of Cheniere’s Corpus Christi expansion project can produce 1.5 mtpa. Commissioning is underway and substantial completion of the processing unit is expected by March 30, the company said.
As of Nov. 30, the overall completion for the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion was 75.9%, the Houston, Texas-based company said in a statement.
Cheniere shares rose a fraction to $211.32 in mid morning trading on Monday.
The new plant consists of seven midscale trains that when fully operating will produce over 10 mtpa. The expansion project joins an existing Corpus Christi facility that can produce 15 mtpa.
Last week, rival Venture Global LNG’s tanker Venture Bayou departed its Plaquemines export plant in Louisiana for Germany, carrying the first LNG cargo produced at the facility.
Plaquemines is ramping up its gas usage, pulling over 600 million cubic feet per day over the weekend and expected to pull 527 mmcf on Monday, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG.
(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru, Curtis Williams in Houston, additional reporting by Swati Verma)
