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According to Cheniere, the milestone cargo was loaded onboard the 2021-built 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, Maran Gas Ithaca, at the Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana.
The LNG carrier, owned by Greece’s Maran Gas and chartered by Germany’s Uniper, is heading toward the Dutch Gate LNG terminal in Rotterdam, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue shows.
Maran Gas Ithaca is expected to arrive in Rotterdam around April 7.
“Producing our 4,000th cargo in just over nine years of LNG operations is yet another achievement enabled by the commitment to reliability, safety, and operational excellence shared by everyone at Cheniere,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s president and CEO.
“We are proud to reach this milestone faster than any LNG producer in history, and look forward to safely and reliably producing the next 4,000 cargoes for our customers as we expand to meet the world’s growing energy needs,” he said.
Cheniere exported its first LNG cargo from the Sabine Pass facility in 2016.
Today, Cheniere’s LNG has reached more than 40 markets in five continents and accounts for approximately 50 percent of US LNG exports, the producer said.
Cheniere shipped its 3,000th cargo in September 2023, becoming the fastest company to reach this milestone.
The world’s second-largest LNG operator previously set industry records as the fastest to produce and export 1,000 and 2,000 cargoes.
Expansion
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass facility currently has a capacity of about 30 mtpa following the launch of the sixth train in February 2022.
The company plans to make a final investment decision to expand its giant Sabine Pass LNG plant in Louisiana in late 2026 or 2027.
The project includes two large-scale liquefaction trains, each with a nameplate capacity of about 7 mtpa and a maximum production capacity of about 8.43 mtpa.
Including debottlenecking, the expansion will add up to 20 mtpa capacity to the liquefaction plant.
As per the Corpus Christi facility in Texas, it currently liquefies natural gas at three operational trains, each with a capacity of about 5 mtpa.
In addition, Cheniere recently achieved substantial completion of the first liquefaction train at the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project.
The project includes building seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa.
Upon substantial completion of all seven trains of CCL Stage 3, the expected total production capacity of the Corpus Christi liquefaction facility will be over 25 mtpa of LNG.
On top of this expansion, Cheniere recently received approval from the US FERC to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant.
The proposed midscale trains 8 and 9 project or project includes adding two midscale
liquefaction trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa, and associated facilities, as well as increasing the authorized loading rate at the terminal’s existing marine berth.
Fusco recently confirmed that the company still expects to make an FID to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant this year.