Cheniere Energy (LNG) made a final investment decision (FID) on Corpus Christi Midscale Trains 8 and 9, as well as a debottlenecking project at its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities. The announcement underscores the strong momentum behind US LNG projects and future gas demand growth.
Trains 8 and 9 will be constructed adjacent to the seven-train Corpus Christi Stage 3 project, which is currently in the start-up process. The two trains will add over 3 mtpa of LNG capacity. Upon completion of all FID’d construction activities, the Corpus Christi terminal will reach over 30 mtpa (~4 Bcf/d) of total liquefaction capacity, rivaling Cheniere’s Sabine Pass as the largest LNG export facility in the US. Cheniere said it plans to develop further brownfield expansions at the two sites.
Additionally, Cheniere updated its run-rate outlook for LNG production, increasing combined liquefaction capacity across the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities by over 10%. Cheniere expects most of the capacity increases to come from the midscale trains, likely informed by early results at Train 1 of the Stage 3 Corpus Christi expansion. Cheniere loaded its first cargo from the new train in February and achieved substantial completion in March. This news adds roughly 700 MMcf/d to East Daley’s LNG feedgas forecast by early 2027 in the Macro Supply & Demand model.
Cheniere is not the only facility expecting to run over nameplate capacity. Since startup, Venture Global’s (VG) Plaquemines LNG has been running at 140% of nameplate capacity while the facility commissions the first 18 mini-trains, pulling over 2.5 Bcf/d consistently this spring. The Cheniere and VG projects are contributing to strong demand growth and supporting higher gas prices in 2025.
In the Macro Supply & Demand Report, East Daley Analytics’ current LNG stack anticipates 32 Bcf/d of feedgas demand by YE30. However, this outlook is based on a 90% utilization assumption, so there is significant potential upside. More broadly, we don’t see adequate pricing in the forward curve to incentivize all of the supply growth that will be needed to meet all of this incremental LNG demand. – Oren Pilant Tickers: LNG, VG.
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