US LNG company Cheniere Energy said March 29 it had taken full custody of Train 3 at its liquefaction facility in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Cheniere said that commissioning of Train 3 was completed as of March 26 and care, custody and control was transferred from its EPC contractor Bechtel.
The Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) told Cheniere on March 25 that it could put the third liquefaction train into service at the facility in Texas. The third train was technically commissioned on February 19 in a test capacity.
Prior to the announcement, Cheniere had two 5mn mt/yr trains operating at its Corpus Christi facility. A 10mn mt/yr expansion at Corpus Christi, consisting of seven mid-scale trains, is fully permitted but awaiting an engineering, procurement and construction contract, additional commercial agreements and the conclusion of adequate financing arrangements.
In announcing its fourth quarter earnings, the company said it entered the period with new contracts for 4mn mt/yr of LNG deliveries for periods ranging from four to 11 years.
As of February 19, Cheniere had shipped about 1,425 LNG cargoes totalling more than 95mn mt of LNG from its two liquefaction projects, Sabine Pass LNG in Louisiana and Corpus Christi Liquefaction in Texas.
Cheniere Energy reported a Q4 2020 net loss of $194mn. Net loss for 2020 was even smaller year on year, at $89mn compared with net income of $648mn in 2019.