Texas LNG advances proposed Brownsville liquefaction, terminal

Robert Brelsford
Downstream Technology Editor

Texas LNG Brownsville LLC, a subsidiary of Houston-based Texas LNG LLC, has engaged a consortium of Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd. and KBR Inc. to deliver both preliminary final investment decision (FID) detailed engineering and post-FID engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for the first 2 million-tonnes/year phase of a proposed 4 million-tpy LNG export project the company plans to build on the Brownsville Ship Channel in Cameron County, Tex., about 19 miles from Brownsville.

Scheduled to begin this year, pre-FID detailed engineering will include further design and schedule optimization, identification of long-lead items and early works commitments, early preparation of purchase orders, and all due diligence in relation to technical commercial and contractual matters to enable execution of a lump-sum turnkey EPC contract with Samsung Engineering and KBR for the proposed complex, Texas LNG said.

A total value of the recent agreements was not revealed, as the operator plans to negotiate official contracts with Samsung Engineering and KBR for the pre-FID engineering and post-FID EPC services over the coming months.

Texas LNG did, however, confirm that Samsung Engineering-both a technical partner and minority interest owner in the proposed LNG complex-completed the conceptual study, preliminary front-end engineering design (FEED), and FEED for the proposed LNG complex in first-half 2016.

The operator also has inked detailed, nonbinding customer offtake agreements with four unidentified LNG buyers in Southeast Asia and China for 3.1 million tpy of LNG exports from the complex, which already oversubscribes the project's planned Phase 1 capacity, the company said in a Jan. 10 release.

On-track to receive the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) approval by late 2017 to proceed with the development, Texas LNG said it expects to reach FID on the project in 2018.

Should the project advance, Phase 1 production would begin in 2022, followed by startup of Phase 2 in 2022-23, depending on market demand, according to the operator.

Project overview

As planned, the liquefaction and export terminal would be built on the north side of the Brownsville Ship Channel, about 5 miles southwest of the US Gulf of Mexico, on a 625-acre site under long-term lease with the Brownsville Navigation District of Cameron County.

In addition to supporting utilities, infrastructure, and control-safety flare systems, the proposed development will include construction of the following major LNG installations:

• A natural gas pipeline receiving and interconnection station.

• A gas pretreatment plant, including units for acid gas removal and dehydration equipped with technology from Honeywell UOP LLC, Des Plaines, Ill., as well as C5+ heavy hydrocarbon removal unit equipped with open-art turboexpander technology.

• A liquefaction plant that, once fully commissioned, will include two liquefaction trains, each to be equipped with proprietary AP-C3MR propane precooled mixed refrigerant technology from Air Products & Chemicals Inc., Allentown, Pa.

• Two, 210,000-cu m aboveground single-containment LNG storage tanks with cryogenic pipeline connections to the liquefaction plant and berthing dock.

• An LNG carrier berthing dock and recessed berthing area equipped to receive LNG carriers with capacities between 130,000-180,000 cu m.

• A materials-offloading site to enable ongoing waterborne deliveries of construction materials and mooring of tug boats while an LNG carrier is at berth.

• A maneuvering basin extending into the Brownsville Ship Channel that provides deep-water access to the LNG carrier berthing dock.

Designed to operate as a toll processor as well as an independent LNG producer, Texas LNG currently is negotiating deals with feed gas suppliers as well as pipeline companies interested in connecting to the proposed complex, the operator said.

Alongside minority partner Samsung Engineering, Third Point LLC, a New York-based investment fund, also holds equity interest in the project and will help to fund the development, according to Texas LNG.