Freight News, Logistics, Sea

Cheniere-Bechtel in Third Stage of LNG Project

[ September 12, 2025   //   Gary Burrows ]

Cheniere Energy, the Houston-based producer of liquefied natural gas (or LNG), selected Bechtel, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) giant, to develop the first U.S. greenfield LNG export facility in 50 years, the Corpus Christi Liquefication facility.

Cheniere and Bechtel have worked together for almost two decades and have completed nine LNG trains between Cheniere’s two Gulf Coast facilities – all completed ahead of schedule and within project budgets.

Stage 3 of the expansion, completing up to seven additional LNG trains, is in the EPC phase, with the first train of the stage completed in March.

Covering more than 1,000 acres, the Corpus Christi Liquification facility, or CCL,  contains four liquefaction units, or trains, with a total capacity of roughly 16.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). The Texas Gulf Coast facility is located near some of the most prolific U.S. natural gas producing regions and connect to the U.S. natural gas pipeline network.

In March, Cheniere issued Bechtel a second limited notice to proceed to continue advancing the expansion of CCL Stage 3, known as the Midscale Trains 8-9 and End Flash Gas Project. The expansion will add two midscale trains, powered by Chart Technology, with motor-driven refrigeration compressors, and operational optimizations, such as additional boil-off-gas compression and an end-flash gas unit. When operational, this addition will add 3 mtpa of LNG.

Cheniere had announced the CCL Stage 3 expansion in June 2022, which included Bechtel’s EPC execution of seven midscale trains, powered by Chart Technology with motor driven refrigeration compressors. Once operational, the expansion has an expected total production capacity of about 10+ mtpa of LNG.

The third phase creates 15 million tonnes of annual capacity across the three trains, 226,000 cubic meters that can serve the world’s largest LNG carrier, the Q-Mac to better meet demand. Three storage tanks hold up to 48,000 cubic meters of LNG.

During the build, Bechtel and Cheniere constructed more than US$8 million of breakwater projects to minimize shoreline erosion along the Gulf and to protect and enhance sensitive wetland resources.

The Bechtel team used 20 innovative solutions to improve cost and schedule, including:

• Drones to survey the site and locate equipment.

• Robotic automation bots to increase efficiency.

• Aingle interface apps for planning, assigning, tracking, and claiming work packages across a range of field disciplines

• Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for on-time material deliveries.

To keep safe during the pandemic, colleagues also used a mobile app that enabled real-time collaboration with technicians and engineers in the field and those working remote.

The project team has reached out to the community over the years. During the pandemic, they donated 15 tons of food and water to the Coastal Bend Food Bank, donated US$18,000 to local charities using profits from an onsite metal recycling program, and donated 1,000 N-95 respirators to the local fire department and first responders. Cheniere and Bechtel, through the Bechtel Group foundation, separately donated to the American Red Cross to help after Hurricane Harvey, which significantly impacted the local community in 2017.

Tags: Bechtel, Cheniere Energy, Corpus Christi Liquefication facility