Cheniere’s unit, Sabine Pass has on Friday submitted a request with the U.S. FERC to place the first liquefaction train at the Lousiana export facility into service.
Houston-based Cheniere started exporting LNG from the Sabine Pass facility, the first of its kind to ship U.S. shale gas overseas, in February. Since then, the company shipped seven commissioning cargoes from the plant to South America, Asia and Europe.
According to the document sent to FERC, Sabine Pass Liquefaction and Sabine Pass LNG, both units of Cheniere, are requesting authorization to place the following facilities in service on or before May 3: Train 1 Inside Battery Limits; Heat Recovery Unit (HRU) and Condensate; and Stage 1 Outside the Battery Limits (OSBL) (to include the marine flare which was granted authorization to operate on December 21, 2015).
“ Commissioning Demonstration Tests (“CDTs”) which confirm the facilities can be operated safely and reliably have been successfully completed for Train 1 and the Stage OSBL, thus Sabine Pass confirms that Train 1 and the Stage 1 OSBL can be expected to operate safely as designed,” it said.
Additionally, Sabine Pass said that the rehabilitation and restoration of the areas affected by Train 1 and the Stage 1 OSBL are “ proceeding satisfactorily and no environmental problem areas or non-compliances were identified by the Commission Staff during the March inspection “.
Worth mentioning, the U.S. FERC has recently granted Cheniere’s request to introduce feed gas to Sabine Pass LNG’s Train 2 for commissioning.
The company plans to construct over time up to six liquefaction trains, which are in various stages of development. Each train is expected to have a nominal production capacity of about 4.5 mtpa of LNG.
LNG World News Staff