Freeport LNG resumes full operations

Freeport suffered an outage in June 2022 after a fire broke out at the facility.

The company has been circumspect about announcing timelines for resuming operations but in March, Freeport said it expected two of the three liquefaction trains, Trains 1 and 2, to remain shut until May for inspections and repairs, while Train 3 was operating.

Also in March, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and hazardous materials safety administration authorised the restart of Train 1, the final train of Freeport LNG’s three-train liquefaction facility.

Train 3 closed temporarily in April, but in recent weeks, Freeport’s Trains 2 and 3 have returned to commercial operation reaching production levels in excess of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day.

• Freeport LNG gets final approval for restart
• After the fire: Freeport LNG cleared to restart two of three trains
• Freeport gets federal approval to resume operations  
• Freeport LNG restart targeted for January 2023
• Freeport LNG restart postponed
• Europe’s energy appetite keeps US as world’s top LNG exporter

Each of the plant’s three liquefaction trains can turn about 0.7 billion cubic feet per day of gas into LNG. Natural gas use at the plant is now over 2 billion cubic feet, the highest since May 2023.

Data from LSEG showed the JERA-NYK vessel Shinshu Maru was moored at Freeport LNG’s terminal earlier this week. Other LNG tankers are waiting offshore to load. 

Outages at the second-largest US liquefaction plant brought added tightness to the LNG market in 2022 in a time that saw prices in Europe soar following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The resulting EU sanctions and gradual break from Russian energy flows put added pressure on the continent to secure adequate gas supplies.