US LNG producer Cheniere is pushing forward with the next phase of expansions at its 33mn t/yr Sabine Pass and 17.4mn t/yr Corpus Christi LNG terminals on the US Gulf coast, following up on its pledge to aggressively pursue permitting under the administration of President Donald Trump.
The US' largest exporter of LNG detailed its 24mn t/yr stage 4 expansion at Corpus Christi, which would add to the nearly 15mn t/yr of liquefaction capacity already under construction with its seven-train, 11.45mn t/yr stage 3 project and 3.3mn t/yr trains 8-9 project.
Cheniere began the pre-filing process for stage 4 in July and plans to file its full application in the first quarter of 2026. The project would include four large-scale trains, each with peak production capacity around 6mn t/yr, the construction of another marine berth, two storage tanks and the expansion of the Corpus Christi Pipeline.
The expansion is similar to the previously announced Sabine Pass stage 5 expansion, which would add three 6.5mn t/yr trains.
Chief commercial officer Anatol Feygin told investors in February that Cheniere would jump on "a constructive permitting window" to boost the company's liquefaction production. Including all of its expansion plans, Cheniere could reach 75mn t/yr of production capacity by early 2030 and about 110mn t/yr by the end of 2035.
Chief executive Jack Fusco said Cheniere plans to take a phased approach for the final investment decisions (FIDs) of the projects. Each facility can add one large-scale liquefaction train without requiring another berth, storage tank or pipeline, allowing them to reach FID before the following trains.
Fusco reaffirmed the company's plan to reach the first FID for Sabine Pass in late 2026 or early 2027, but did not specify a timeline for Corpus Christi stage 4.
The plans mark Cheniere's return to building large-scale trains, as it did with the first six trains at Sabine Pass and the first three at Corpus Christi. The nine trains currently under construction at Corpus Christi are smaller, midscale trains, each with a peak capacity around 1.63mn t/yr.
The company switched to midscale trains around 2018 when it expected the market to be smaller and shorter-term, which would have made it harder to commercialize a large train, Fusco said.
"It didn't work out that way, as you know," Fusco said. "There's just a lot more economies of scale. It's overall cheaper to build and operate larger trains than it is the smaller facilities, and that's why we pivoted back to trains that we know very, very well."
Cheniere reported profit of $1.63bn in the second quarter, up from $880mn in the same period last year.
