Freeport LNG receives regulatory approval to return to full production capacity

Freeport LNG, one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas plants, is reaching full production capacity after an explosion last summer shut it down for about eight months.

The privately owned plant, which operates along the Gulf Coast south of Houston, announced on Wednesday that it had received federal regulatory approval to restart its third and final liquefaction line. Freeport LNG restarted two other liquefaction lines in February with permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

Before the overpressure pipeline burst last June, Freeport LNG was producing about 2 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day, about 15 percent of US exports, mostly to Europe and Asia. According to the company, it is the second largest facility of its kind in the country and the seventh largest in the world.

“Over the past eight months, we have implemented improvements to our processes, procedures and training to ensure a safe and reliable operation, and have significantly increased our workforce with strong LNG and petrochemical experience to reduce overtime, increase operational efficiency and improve quality assurance. and business performance,” said Michael Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Freeport LNG following the reopening of two LNG lines. officials have enabled us to resume LNG production and begin the safe commercial operation of our liquefaction plant.”

According to the Associated Press, immediately after the explosion, an incident report filed with the Texas Environmental Quality Commission found that the explosion resulted in excessive emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

A consultant report released in November by PHMSA said the explosion was caused by flaws in valve inspection procedures, a failure to adjust alarms that warn of rising temperatures during operations, and improper procedures that allowed operators to choose to close valves that could cause release of liquefied gas. According to Reuters, natural gas will be isolated in pipes.

Freeport LNG announced on Wednesday that it has reached production levels of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day with two liquefaction lines and that it will have a “conservative ramp-up” to full production with three lines over the next few weeks. The company said that during this time “changes in feed gas flows and production rates should be expected” due to the facility’s long downtime.

The company, which was established in 2002 and started export operations in 2019, plans to add a fourth liquefaction line, which it says has received regulatory approval.