-
Sabine Pass LNG Terminal: This facility has six liquefaction trains with a total production capacity of approximately 27 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG.
-
Corpus Christi LNG Terminal: The existing facility has four operational trains with a nominal production capacity of about 16.5 MTPA. The Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project, which began producing LNG in December 2024, adds seven midscale trains with an expected total capacity of over 10 MTPA. By 2025, three of these trains (including Train 1, which reached substantial completion in March 2025) are expected to be operational, contributing approximately 4–5 MTPA based on partial completion.
-
Pipeline Capacity and Role: The Creole Trail Pipeline can deliver up to 3.0 Bcf/d of natural gas to Sabine Pass, which demands nearly 4 Bcf/d at full capacity for its six trains. If the pipeline experiences a complete outage, it could curtail up to 3.0 Bcf/d of feed gas, assuming no alternative supply routes are immediately available. This would reduce Sabine Pass’s LNG output by approximately 75% of its maximum capacity (since 3.0/4.0 = 0.75), or roughly 2.7–3.0 MTPA of LNG over a prolonged period (using the conversion 1 Bcf/d ≈ 0.9–1.0 MTPA annually).
-
Partial Outage or Mitigation: In practice, outages are often partial, and Cheniere could mitigate impacts by rerouting gas through interconnected pipelines (e.g., Transco, TETCO, or Trunkline) or using stored gas. A partial outage affecting, say, 50% of pipeline capacity (1.5 Bcf/d), could curtail ~1.35–1.5 MTPA of LNG production annually, or less if the outage is short-term (e.g., days or weeks).
-
Duration Matters: If an outage lasts one month, a full 3.0 Bcf/d curtailment would reduce output by ~0.225–0.25 MTPA (3.0 Bcf/d × 30 days × 0.0027 MTPA/Bcf). Shorter outages (e.g., a week) would have minimal impact, curtailing ~0.05–0.06 MTPA.
Update from LNGPrime.com
“I can confirm that planned maintenance is underway at SPL,” a spokesman for Cheniere told LNG Prime on Monday.
He declined to comment on the scope and duration of the maintenance.
According to a note posted on Cheniere’s website, its unit Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline started maintenance at the Gillis compressor station on May 31.
The outage is expected to last 22 days and is scheduled to end on June 22.
The Creole Trail pipeline is a bidirectional, 94-mile, 42-inch pipeline that connects the Sabine Pass LNG facility with several large interstate pipelines. It has a capacity of about 1.5 Bcf/d.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass facility is the largest operational LNG export plant in the US.
It currently has a capacity of about 30 mtpa following the launch of the sixth train in February 2022.
Cheneire also plans to further expand the giant LNG plant.
In December 2023, Cheniere said it plans to build two instead of three liquefaction trains as part of the Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project with an optimized unit/cost footprint.
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.
Cheniere plans to make a final investment decision to expand its Sabine Pass LNG plant in Louisiana in late 2026 or 2027, according to its management.
The post Cheniere kicks off Sabine Pass LNG maintenance appeared first on Energy News Beat.