Freeport LNG Development LP has adjusted the restart timeline for its Texas terminal again, this time pushing start-up to sometime after mid-January as it responds to a bevy of questions from regulators.
Freeport representatives said the majority of the work to restart operations after a June explosion knocked the 2.38 Bcf/d terminal offline was “substantially complete.” However, after submitting responses to dozens of questions asked by FERC in a Dec. 12 request, the company estimates final approval could take longer than expected.
“Given the time needed for the regulatory agencies to review the company's responses and to seek any necessary clarification, Freeport LNG now does not anticipate commencing the initial restart of its liquefaction facility until the second half of January 2023,” the company said.
Freeport submitted over 100 files to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Dec. 21 in response to the agency’s 64-question request. The questions were developed with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard after a visit in late November to the liquefied natural gas plant on the upper Texas coast.
Freeport previously said it could repair the damage and restart around the middle of November. It later pushed its plans back to mid-December and then again by another two weeks to the end of the year.
Freeport spokesperson Heather Browne told NGI the company is still maintaining its estimate that the terminal will ramp up to its full production capacity sometime in March.
The delay of initial operations could, however, potentially change the mid-winter supply outlook for offtakers in Europe and Asia. Vessels from firms like Osaka Gas Co. Ltd and BP plc have been heading to the facility since mid-December with expected arrivals at the end of the month and in early January. Two vessels from South Korean conglomerate SK Group have been circling offshore since November, according to vessel-tracking data from Kpler.
The plant had been providing roughly 15% of U.S. LNG exports prior to the June incident.
