Construction on the Golden Pass export terminal project which started about 3 years ago in Texas is still in the works, with about 4,000 workers on site. The new export terminal was approved by the U.S Department of Energy to allow the exportation of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to countries that have Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the United States. This project is still on course to begin operations next year, as proposed earlier by the developers.
The Golden Pass export terminal is being developed as a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (70%) and Exxon Mobil (30%), with an estimated cost of US$ 10bn. Construction on the new export facility is taking place adjacent to the already existing import terminal, located 16km south of Port Arthur in Jefferson County, on the western side of the Sabine-Neches Waterway; this import terminal brings in natural gas from various domestic sources such as Haynesville, Eagle, Permian, and Mid-Continent basins.
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Features of the Golden Pass export terminal project
The Golden Pass export terminal project will cover the development of three 5.2 million tons per annum (Mtpa) liquefaction trains, a supply Dock and marine delivery facility, a refrigerant and condensate storage tank, and a truck unloading facility. In addition, the project will also include a feed gas pre-treatment plant, which comprises a heavy Hydrocarbon removal system and an amine system. The turbo-machinery unit for the liquefaction trains will also consist of 12 centrifugal compressors and 6 gas turbines.
The 16 Mtpa Golden Pass export terminal will have an operational life of about 25 years and LNG from this facility will be exported to various countries having FTA with the US, such as Canada, Australia, Mexico, Israel, Korea, and several others. In addition, a 20-year agreement was signed for Golden Pass Products to deliver 340,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of gas to the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL), and another 20-year agreement was also signed for the delivery of 1.1 million Dth/d of gas to the Enable Gulf Run Transmission.
The contractors working on the export terminal project include a joint venture of Chiyoda International, McDermott International, and Zachary Group, who will be handling the engineering, procurement, and construction; and Baker Hughes, a company in charge of supplying turbo-machinery equipment for the project.
