The second wave of US LNG export facilities continues to grow with the federal approval LNG exports by Kinder Morgan’s Gulf LNG liquefaction project near Pascagoula, Mississippi
The US Department of Energy’s (US DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has authorised Gulf LNG to export up to 1.53Bn ft3 per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas as LNG from its proposed facility to US non-free trade agreement countries. The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave Gulf LNG the green light to develop the facility on 16 July.
Built on the site of an existing LNG import terminal, Gulf LNG will have two liquefaction trains with a nameplate capacity of 5 mta that can accommodate LNG carriers with capacities of up to 208,000 m3. As many as 150 vessel transits are expected annually with an average frequency of one carrier every 2.4 days.
Gulf LNG export facility’s Train 1 is expected to be commissioned by Q3 2024, followed by Train 2 in Q2 2025. Two gas-fired turbine compressors will be used per train. There are two existing 160,000-m3 LNG storage tanks.
With the Gulf LNG project announcement, US DOE has approved 34.52 Bcf/d of exports in the form of LNG and compressed natural gas to non-free trade agreement countries. Of this amount, approximately 14 Bcf/d is in various stages of operation and construction, with four export projects currently operating, and two more expected to come online later this year.
“The US is in another year of record-setting natural gas production,” said US Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg.
US LNG export capacity, currently at approximately 6 Bcf/d, is set to grow to over 10 Bcf/d by the end of 2020. The US Energy Information Administration reports an average dry natural gas production rate of 91.4 Bcf/d this year, and 92.8 Bcf/d in 2020.
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