US LNG exporting giant Cheniere has produced and exported its 3,000th cargo since 2016, becoming the fastest company to reach this milestone.
Cheniere told LNG Prime it had exported the milestone cargo on Saturday, September 16 from its Sabine Pass liquefaction and export facility in Cameron, Louisiana.
The feat comes just 2,761 days after Cheniere began export operations in February 2016 from the Sabine Pass terminal.
The 3,000th cargo was loaded onto the 174,000-cbm SM Bluebird.
According to its AIS data, the 2022-built vessel, owned by Korea Line and chartered by Shell, is heading towards Europe.
The data shows that the vessel was first heading to Italy’s Piombino but it changed its final destination to France’s Montoir.
Cheniere, the world’s second-largest LNG operator, previously set industry records as the fastest to produce and export 1,000 and 2,000 cargoes.
It has produced these cargoes from the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi liquefaction facilities.
Earlier this year, the Sabine Pass terminal shipped its 2000th cargo of LNG since its launch in 2016.
Expansion
Sabine Pass currently has a capacity of about 30 mtpa following the launch of the sixth train in February last year.
In February this year, Cheniere initiated the pre-filing review process with the US FERC for the proposed Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project with a capacity of some 20 mtpa.
On the other hand, Cheniere’s Corpus Christi liquefaction plant consists of three operational trains with each having a capacity of about 5 mtpa.
In June last year, Cheniere took a final investment decision on the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project worth about $8 billion and Bechtel officially started construction on the project in October.
The project includes building seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa.
Cheniere is expecting to complete the expansion phase at its Corpus Christi plant ahead of schedule.
