US DOE Okays Short-Term Corpus Christi Exports
The US Department of Energy on November 2 approved short-term LNG exports to non-free trade countries from Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project (CCLP) in Texas.
The approval authorises initial commissioning volumes and other exports of volumes less than 2.1bn ft3/day over terms not to exceed two years. The DOE authorised similar exports to free trade countries in September 2018.
“For the first time in 60 years, the US is now the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, and we are now exporting natural gas to 30 nations on five continents,” US energy secretary Rick Perry said. “Approving short-term LNG exports from projects like Corpus Christi is just one example of how the administration is pursuing energy dominance and boosting our economy.”
The two-year export term will take effect on the earliest of either first exports from Corpus Christi or December 31, 2018. On October 30, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) approved a request from Cheniere Energy to export commissioning volumes from the first of three trains at CCLP.
Since exports of US LNG began in 2016, over 1.5 trillion ft3 of US natural gas has been exported to 30 different destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America, North America, and the Caribbean.
To date, the DOE has approved 21.35bn ft3/day of long-term exports of natural gas to any country in the world not prohibited by US law or policy.
There are currently two large-scale LNG export projects in operation, Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana and Dominion Energy’s Cove Point terminal in Maryland, which which have a combined export capacity of approximately 3.5bn ft3/day. Corpus Christi – three trains with combined liquefaction capacity of about 13mn metric tons/year – is one of four additional large-scale LNG export projects expected to be completed over the next two years, which will bring combined US LNG export capacity to about 11bn ft3/day.
There are also a dozen large-scale export projects under review that would provide more than 20bn ft3/day of additional export capacity, if approved and constructed.