Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC (CCL) may export up to 514 Bcf/year of liquefied domestic natural gas from trains four and five of its terminal, which is under construction in San Patricio and Nueces counties, TX, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said Thursday.

The authorization is for 20 years and applies to free trade agreement (FTA) countries [15-97-LNG]. The project already has DOE authorization for its first three trains (see Daily GPI, May 12), for which it also has received construction approval from FERC. Trains four and five are part of a proposed terminal expansion that also would add a pipeline.

In June, Cheniere announced plans to add two trains with 9 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of incremental capacity at Corpus Christi. The Stage 3 expansion project would increase the expected aggregate nominal LNG production capacity at the CCL Project to 22.5 mtpa over a total of five trains, each with a nominal capacity of 4.5 mtpa.

Cheniere said it also expects to add a 22-mile, 42-inch diameter pipeline, which would run parallel to a pipeline currently under construction under the scope of Stage 1 of the CCL Project. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff recently announced a planned environmental assessment for the Stage 3 expansion’s liquefaction trains and pipeline (see Daily GPI, Aug. 17).