Wedoany.com Report on Feb 6th, Cheniere Energy, the largest liquefied natural gas exporter in the United States, has submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a new LNG plant with an annual capacity of 24 million tons at its Corpus Christi site in Texas. This project will mark another significant expansion for the company at its local facility.

Currently, the Corpus Christi plant has an annual capacity of 18 million tons. The ongoing third-phase expansion is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, increasing its capacity to 25 million tons. If the newly applied fourth-phase project is approved, the plant's final annual capacity will reach 49 million tons. According to the submitted documents, this expansion will include four new LNG processing trains, each with an annual capacity of 6 million tons. Cheniere anticipates that the project will require a daily supply of 3.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas and hopes to obtain federal approval by May next year.

Preliminary data from financial firm LSEG shows that U.S. LNG exports in 2025 will reach 111 million tons. Currently, there is approximately 100 million tons of annual capacity under construction in the U.S., expected to come online between 2027 and 2030. This growth trend has raised concerns among some energy companies, who fear the LNG market could face oversupply by 2030. As the U.S. approval environment becomes more lenient, Cheniere is competing with Venture Global to become the first U.S. LNG exporter with an annual capacity exceeding 100 million tons. Cheniere currently has a capacity of 52 million tons, with an additional 8 million tons under construction; Venture Global has 40 million tons in operation and 28 million tons under construction.