Freeport LNG Development, L.P. (Freeport LNG) announced that it has received regulatory approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to restart Train 1, the final train of Freeport LNG’s three train liquefaction facility to receive restart authorization.
Freeport LNG’s Trains 2 & 3 returned to full commercial operation in recent weeks, reaching production levels in excess of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day. As the recommissioning of Freeport’s liquefaction facility continues and trains are restarted, changes in feed gas flows and production rates are to be anticipated, given the duration of the plant’s outage.
As previously stated, a conservative ramp-up profile to establish full three-train production is anticipated to occur over the next few weeks.
The fiery blast that knocked the facility offline in June resulted from inadequate operating and testing procedures, operator fatigue and other shortcomings, a review found.
“Returning to liquefaction operations is a significant achievement for Freeport LNG,” said Michael Smith, Freeport LNG founder, chairman and CEO.
“Over the past eight months, we have implemented enhancements to our processes, procedures and training to ensure safe and reliable operations, and significantly increased staffing levels with extensive LNG and petrochemical operating experience to reduce overtime, enhance operational excellence, and improve quality assurance and business performance. Eight months of diligence, discipline and dedicated efforts by our teams, working collaboratively alongside the regulatory agencies and local officials, have positioned us to resume LNG production and commence ramp-up to the safe establishment of commercial operations of our liquefaction facility.”
