(The Center Square) - Federal regulators have begun the review and permitting process for two large-scale liquified natural gas export projects on the Texas coast, one a proposed expansion of an existing plant located near the Louisiana border and the other a potential new build near Mexico.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week approved separate pre-filing review requests for the Port Arthur LNG North Project in Jefferson County and the Coastal Bend LNG Project in San Patricio County, recent government filings show.
The two proposed plants are engineered to add a combined 46.2 million tons per year of LNG export capacity along the Texas Gulf Coast. In 2025, U.S. LNG exports reached a record 111 million tons, according to the Department of Energy.
Houston-based Sempra Infrastructure plans to add 27 million tons of annual capacity near Beaumont, nearly matching the 26 million tons the site is currently engineered to produce. In its preliminary filing, Sempra said additional LNG supplies are needed because global "demand is expected to outpace supply in the early 2030s," making it necessary to expand the plant now to help avoid international shortages.
Near Corpus Christi, project developer Coastal Bend LNG LLC plans to add liquefaction trains capable of producing 19.2 million tons per year at the existing Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center, which now operates primarily as a crude oil storage and marine export hub. In the filing, Coastal Bend LNG indicated that it and project partner Enbridge plan to use carbon capture and sequestration technology to lower the terminal's emissions profile.
The federal regulator issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement on Sept. 18 that could clear the way for a proposed 24-million-ton-per-year expansion at Corpus Christi LNG, which is also located in San Patricio County, as reported byThe Center Square.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission noted in the approval letters filed for the projects that each qualifies under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act for an expedited regulatory review.
The developers of Coastal Bend LNG expect to complete a formal application by March 2027, while Sempra is targeting a July 2027 filing.
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