New Fortress Energy advances with first Mexican ‘Fast LNG’ export facility from off the terminal port of Altamira
New Fortress Energy, the New York-based developer of liquefied natural gas import and export projects, could begin production as early as October 2023 from a floating FLNG plant offshore the Mexican port of Altamira in the Gulf of Mexico.
NFE is on course to start LNG production and export operations in the weeks ahead, the first ever from Mexico, at a facility with capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per annum.
NFE’s “Fast LNG” pairs modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs to enable lower-cost and faster deployment schedules.
The US company and Mexico's state-owned power utility, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), have set up the LNG hub in Altamira in the GoM to convert Mexican natural gas into LNG for export.
Installations
The US company expects to complete and install the two remaining parts of the FLNG project this month and to immediately introduce gas and with a first cargo sold in October, according to a company presentation.
Each of NFE’s three parts of the first “Fast LNG” project have been completed at the Kiewit Offshore Services yard in Ingleside in Texas.
The company said that the first “FLNG 1” liquefaction operating facility is being deployed in Mexican waters at a cost of just $1.3 billion, far below the cost of other proposed projects.
NFE has yet to formally confirm when exactly the Altamira FLNG production plant will come on stream.
The US firm received an export permit in June 2023 for the Altamira ‘Fast LNG’ facility from Mexico’s Ministry of Energy.
Under the permit, NFE is authorised to export up to 7.8 million tonnes of LNG through April 2028, providing ample capacity to support the operations of the planned 1.4 MTPA facility through the permitted period.
Final piece of puzzle
“This permit is the final piece to the puzzle for launching our first ‘Fast LNG’ in Altamira,” Wes Edens, NFE Chairman and Chief Executive has said.
NFE is also completing two other LNG projects in the months ahead relating to LNG imports in the South American nation of Brazil.
The Barcarena LNG import terminal in the state of Pará is due for completion in December 2023 at a cost of $700M and in January 2024 a second Brazilian import terminal will open in Santa Catarina state in the south of Brazil.
Each of the Brazilian terminals will have import capacity of 3 MTPA to support local power projects.
NFE has said that the “Fast LNG” project at Altamira as well as two Brazilian import terminals and a power venture in Puerto Rico are part of a revenue spend of $3.2Bln on infrastructure that will soon be “revenue producing” operations for the company.
