Cheniere Energy, Inc. announced the achievement of two significant milestones: the substantial completion of the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage 3 Project (CCL Stage 3) in Texas, and the production and export of its 5,000th cargo of liquefied natural gas from its U.S. Gulf Coast operations.
Cheniere has reached the 5,000th cargo milestone faster than any other LNG producer worldwide.
CCL Stage 3 achieved substantial completion on August 28th, when Bechtel Energy, Inc., Cheniere’s engineering, procurement and construction contractor, turned over care, custody and control of the seventh and last train of CCL Stage 3 to the Company. Cheniere issued full notice to proceed on CCL Stage 3 to Bechtel in June 2022, with first LNG production from the first train achieved in December 2024. In total, the project expands Cheniere’s LNG production capacity by over 20%, to approximately 56 million tonnes per annum.
Key points from the Cheniere announcement:
- Final investment decision reached: Summit Midstream Corporation and Double E Pipeline reached a final investment decision to proceed with a mainline compression expansion after securing 550 MMcf/d of new long-term take-or-pay commitments, targeting an in-service date in the fourth quarter of 2028.
- Capacity and footprint expansion: The $100 million project (net to Summit’s 70% interest) includes installing a bi-directional compressor station to increase forward-haul capacity to the Waha Hub by approximately 900 MMcf/d, raising total contracted firm capacity to roughly 2.2 Bcf/d.
- Fully committed project financing: Summit Permian Transmission secured full funding for its expected capital contributions by converting a $50 million uncommitted accordion into a committed facility, providing $100 million in total committed capital alongside an existing delayed draw term facility.
“With the substantial completion of CCL Stage 3, Cheniere and Bechtel have again delivered a major LNG project safely, on budget and ahead of schedule, solidifying our track record of excellence in project execution,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s Chairman, President and CEO. “Congratulations to the Cheniere and Bechtel teams on the outstanding delivery of this project. This achievement enables us to increase our supply of much-needed secure, reliable and affordable energy to the world at a critical time, while delivering on our commitments to our customers and creating long-term value for our stakeholders.”
Milestone to celebrate for Cheniere
Cheniere celebrated its 5,000th LNG cargo with the loading of the Yari LNG carrier, which departed Sabine Pass on August 29th en route to Asia. Since the production of its first LNG cargo in 2016, Cheniere has now supplied more than 340 million tonnes of LNG to markets worldwide, and the Company’s LNG platform has grown to represent over 10% of total global LNG capacity.
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“Producing and exporting 5,000 LNG cargoes is a remarkable achievement, and doing so in record time – just 10 years after our first cargo – makes it even more extraordinary,” Fusco said. “This accomplishment was made possible by the hard work, dedication and commitment of our workforce, which forms the foundation of our industry-leading track record of operational excellence, safety and customer focus.”
