SAN PATRICIO COUNTY — U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright visited Cheniere Corpus Christi Liquefaction Facility to sign an export authorization in person on Feb. 26.
Wright toured the facility, which is located near Gregory in San Patricio County and produces liquefied natural gas. The authorization Wright announced and signed during the visit will allow the facility to export liquefied natural gas produced by two new liquefaction trains that the facility is working to build.
The facility currently produces about 21 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year. It began producing liquefied natural gas in 2018 and has been expanded over the years. Once complete, potentially by late 2028, the latest approved trains will bring the facility’s output to about 30 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year.
A marine vessel waits to load liquefied natural gas from Cheniere’s Corpus Christi liquefaction facility, located near Gregory, on Feb. 26.
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But that isn’t where Cheniere’s ambitions for the Coastal Bend facility end.
In February, the company submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission an application for another expansion.
This expansion could increase the amount the facility can produce by as many as 24 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year, doubling the size of the facility. It could bring production to over 50 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright greets Cheniere CEO Jack Fusco before speaking with Cheniere Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility employees on Feb. 26.
The proposed project includes four large-scale liquefaction trains, two full-containment LNG storage tanks, three ground flares and a new marine berth. The company also plans to expand its natural gas pipeline, including a new 42-inch diameter, about 26-mile-long pipeline from the existing Sinton Compressor Station. The company would also build a new compressor station adjacent to the Sinton station, according to the application.
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Wright’s visit was focused on the projects that have already been approved and are underway at the Cheniere facility, scheduled to correspond with the 10th anniversary of when Cheniere sent out its first cargo of liquefied natural gas from its Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks during an “Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies” House subcommittee hearing on the department’s budget on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 7, 2025.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get nuclear energy going again, because we want a world someday that has other meaningful energy sources besides hydrocarbons and wood,” Wright said, predicting that within his lifetime, liquefied natural gas will be the fastest-growing energy source.
Wright spoke enthusiastically about the role energy, and liquefied natural gas specifically, plays across the globe.
“Every new train you build, every new train you operate safely and carefully every day, you’re changing massively the lives of people all around the world,” Wright told Cheniere employees.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: With construction underway, Cheniere LNG plant plans for more growth