Freeport LNG Planning On Year-End Restart

FreeportLNG is planning on restarting its liquefaction facility by year end, the company told Oilprice on Wednesday, despite FERC's new list of regulatory demands.

"We are in the process of reviewing the data received December 12 from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and we are developing responsive documentation," a spokeperson for FreeportLNG said in a statement to Oilprice, adding that the company was continuing to work towards the initial restart of its liquefaction facility at year end, "provided we obtain the necessary regulatory approvals required for the restart of our facility."

FreeportLNG said that it continues to work collaboratively with regulatory agencies.

In August, Freeport targeted an initial production date of sometime in November, but that date was later pushed back. Freeport's November update said it was targeting initial production from the facility sometime in mid-December, with full production not expected until March 2023.

But U.S. energy regulator FERC notified Freeport this week of a long list of 64 conditions that had to be met before it could approve the restart.

The 15 million tonne-per-year export terminal has been offline since June after suffering damage from an explosion caused by "isolation of a piping segment containing cryogenic LNG without proper overpressure protection, which LNG then warmed and expanded due to exposure to ambient conditions, resulting in a boiling liquid, expanding vapor explosion…and the rupturing of the piping segment," according to a Freeport statement from earlier this month.

The Freeport closure has been hard on Europe, which has acutely felt the drop in LNG exports as it tries to wean itself off Russia while preparing for this winter's heating season. But Europe saw some natural gas price relief earlier this week, with a 9% price slump, as LNG imports rose along with increasing nuclear output from France.

Germany's first floating LNG terminal should start flows on December 22, further alleviating Europe's gas crunch

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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