Corpus Christi LNG likely loading first cargo

The first export from Cheniere Energy's Corpus Christi LNG terminal in Texas is likely being loaded, and the second cargo could be exported soon after that.

The Maria Energy LNG vessel docked at the facility yesterday and the Golar Kelvin LNG vessel has been moored in the northern Gulf of Mexico, just south of Corpus Christi, since 29 November, according to shipping records.

The Maria Energy, which has capacity of 174,000m³, equivalent to 3.6 Bcf (102mn m³) of gas, is chartered by Cheniere, while the 162,000m³ Golar Kelvin is chartered by Spain's Naturgy, formerly known as Gas Natural Fenosa.

Houston-based Cheniere declined to comment.

Cheniere previously planned to load the first Corpus Christi cargo on the 170,000m³ Golar Tundra that it charters. But on 21 November that vessel left Corpus Christi empty to load a cargo at Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana.

Gas intake at Corpus Christi increased significantly on 23 November and has averaged 369mn cf/d since then, for a total of about 4.1 Bcf. Intake averaged 56mn cf/d from 19 October to 22 October, when the storage tank and loading terms were being cooled down before higher production could safely begin. About 10pc of the feed gas is used in the liquefaction process, so enough LNG has likely been produced to load the Maria Energy.

Cheniere has said it expects to export the first cargo from Corpus Christi train 1 and Sabine Pass train 5 in the fourth quarter. It has not commented on when Sabine Pass train 5 would load its first cargo, or if that has already happened.

Each train that Cheniere has completed or is building at Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass has baseload production of 4.5mn t/yr, equivalent to about 620mn cf/d, and peak capacity of 5mn t/yr.

Each train would typically produce a full LNG cargo in about five to seven days if it is operating at or near capacity. Each new train is expected to produce five to seven test cargoes before starting long-term commercial operations in the first quarter next year.

The second train at Corpus Christi is expected to start long-term operations in the second half of 2019, and train 3 in 2021.