Freeport LNG, which operates a three-train export facility on Quintana Island along the Texas Gulf Coast, said recent freezing temperatures in Texas impacted its Train 3, which will be offline for at least one month.
Freeport’s three-train 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) export facility, located about 66 miles from downtown Houston, is the seventh largest in the world and second largest in the U.S. The facility initially started importing LNG in June 2008 and flipped to exporting LNG in 2019.
“During Winter Storm Heather, one of our refrigeration electric motors at our liquefaction facility experienced an electrical issue that will necessitate a replacement of the motor with an on-hand spare,” Houston-based Freeport LNG confirmed Jan. 29 in an emailed response to Hart Energy.
“We anticipate an outage of approximately one month of one of our three trains as we work to safely and expeditiously return our liquefaction facility to normal operations,” the company said, referring to a statement filing on Jan. 26.
According to Freeport LNG, the three trains have a combined liquefaction capacity equivalent to around 2.2 Bcf/d of gas, enough to power and light a metropolitan area around the size of San Antonio, for a full day. Freeport has plans to add a fourth train, which will add 5.1 mtpa, or 0.7 Bcf/d, yet that’s still years away.
The latest incident comes after the company suffered a near 10- month stoppage from June 2022 to March 2023 due to a vapor cloud explosion at one of the facility’s lines.
Recommended Reading
White House Open to Ending LNG Export Pause in Push for Ukraine Aid, Sources Say
2024-04-02 - Reversing the pause could be tolerable to the White House in order to advance Ukraine aid, in part because the pause has no bearing on near-term LNG exports, the White House sources said.
Sempra Targets Summer 2025 for Commercial Start of ECA LNG Phase 1
2024-03-06 - Sempra is targeting the summer of 2025 as the commercial operations date for its 3.25 mtpa (0.43 Bcf/d) nameplate capacity Energía Costa Azul LNG Phase 1 project, located in Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico.
Permian Gas Finds Another Way to Asia
2024-04-30 - A crop of Mexican LNG facilities in development will connect U.S. producers to high-demand markets while avoiding the Panama Canal.
Kimmeridge Activates on SilverBow: A Battle for South Texas Gas
2024-03-01 - Investment firm Kimmeridge is looking for more natural gas production for its own E&P to participate in the Gulf Coast LNG market. SilverBow Resources has gas.
Heard from the Field: US Needs More Gas Storage
2024-03-21 - The current gas working capacity fits a 60 Bcf/d market — but today, the market exceeds 100 Bcf/d, gas executives said at CERAWeek by S&P Global.