Two of Freeport LNG’s trains at its Texas export facility could be offline intermittently through at least May, the company confirmed Wednesday, after the end of months-long maintenance on Train 3 last week.
Feed gas demand and liquefied natural gas production capacity at Freeport has been limited since January after the company disclosed freezing cold during a winter storm caused electrical issues with one of the electric motors at the plant.
While pipeline flow data showed that operations at Train 3 likely resumed last week, Wood Mackenzie and industry sources posited that additional trains could have been taken offline as Freeport addressed other possible issues.
Spokesperson Heather Browne said Train 2 is currently offline and Train 1 “will be taken down imminently.
“Once we understood the cause of the damage, we knew it would be prudent to take proactive steps to inspect our other two trains,” Browne said.
Freeport is expecting the inspection “and any subsequent necessary repairs” could be completed on both trains sometime in May, Browne added.
The Freeport facility is able to produce about 2 Bcf/d of LNG from three trains. A previous explosion at the plant stopped production for around nine months in 2022 while repairs and regulatory review were underway.
Since the beginning of October, Freeport has had several significant dips in feed gas flows to the facility, all of which correspond with reports of operational issues, according to an NGI analysis of pipeline and regulatory data.
In late February, pipeline flows to Freeport dipped again, corresponding with a reported compressor issue with Train 1.
While the facility has been facing maintenance issues, it exported slightly more LNG in January and February than during the same period last year, according to Kpler data. Freeport is on track to export at least 37.15 million metric tons (mmt) in March, nearly 1 mmt more than last March.
The majority of the cargoes exported from Freeport this year have landed in Asia, as Europe continues to see a supply glut that has pushed down Dutch Title Transfer Facility prices. Global LNG supply outages, including at Freeport, helped spark a brief rally in prices earlier this week.
