Liquefied natural gas business Cheniere Energy (Cheniere) has announced substantial completion of the first train of its Corpus Christi Stage 3 liquefaction project (CCL Stage 3) in Texas.
Cheniere’s engineering, procurement, and construction partner was Bechtel Energy, which has now handed over the control of the train to Cheniere.
Jack Fusco, President and CEO of Cheniere, described the substantial completion as an important milestone.
“We remain focused on safely and efficiently bringing the remaining CCL Stage 3 trains online ahead of schedule,” he added.
CCL Stage 3 consists of seven midscale trains, with an expected total production capacity of over 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG.
Bechtel got the go-ahead to develop CCL Stage 3 in June 2022. The first LNG production from the first train was achieved in December 2024, and the first cargo loaded was in February 2025.
Once all seven trains of CCL Stage 3 are complete, the expected total production capacity of the Corpus Christi liquefaction facility will be over 25 mtpa of LNG.
The Corpus Christi site is around 25 feet above sea level and is well situated for LNG exports, being near pipelines and less than 15 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has authorised around 48 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas for export, or nearly half of current domestic production.
Of this 48 Bcf/day in total authorised exports, 14 Bcf/d of associated capacity is now operating, making the US the largest exporter of LNG in the world.
Another 12 Bcf/d is under construction and expected to double present export volumes by 2030. A further 22 Bcf/d of capacity exports has been approved by the DOE but has not secured a final investment.
