The Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, owned by Cheniere Energy Inc., is on 853 acres of land on the Sabine Pass River on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It has a storage capacity of 16.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day (Bcf/d) and a sendout capacity of 4 Bcf/d, according to Hart Energy Mapping and Data Services (See map and charts of Top LNG Shipments and Top 5 Shippers).
The terminal is located at 3.7 nautical miles from the coast and 23 nautical miles from the other buoy at the widest point on the Sabine River Navigation Channel. The channel, which has a depth of 40 ft, is not subject to tidal limitations.
On Sept. 7, 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved Cheniere’s bid to export LNG produced from the terminal, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The approval allowed the terminal to export LNG to any nation that has the capacity to import the fuel and with which the U.S. has entered, or may in the future enter, a Free Trade Agreement, the Journal reported, citing an order by the DOE.
According to Cheniere Energy’s website, the Sabine Pass Terminal is the largest receiving terminal, by regasification capacity, in the world. Phase 1 began in April 2008 and the first part of the Phase 2 expansion was completed by mid 2009. The future plans of the Phase 2 expansion may include a sixth storage tank and related facilities to increase the total LNG storage volume to 20.2 Bcf.
Four dedicated tugs are stationed at the terminal to ensure safe and timely escorts by crews specifically trained to berth LNG vessels at the terminals two docks. The terminal can receive and unload about 400 LNG vessels a year. Each regular carrier takes between 10 to 12 hours to unload. QMax-class vessels are projected to unload in approximately 18 hours, according to Cheniere.
Interconnecting pipelines include Kinder Morgan Louisiana PL, Creole Trail NGPL, Transco, Tennessee Gas, Florida Gas, Trunkline, GulfSouth, Tetco, Sabine, ANR and Columbia Gulf.
Contact the author, Rebecca Torrellas, at rtorrellas@hartenergy.com.
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