By Curtis Williams
HOUSTON, April 20 (Reuters) – An LNG tanker has arrived at the Golden Pass facility in Texas to collect the plant’s inaugural export of the superchilled gas, the company confirmed on Monday, after finally beginning production earlier this year following prolonged delays in construction.
The Al Qaiyyah LNG tanker arrived at Golden Pass on Monday, according to LSEG data. The ship is owned by QatarEnergy, which has a 70% stake in the Texas LNG plant. Oil major Exxon holds the other 30% of the project’s equity.
The Golden Pass project has faced delays and cost overruns since construction began in 2019, including the bankruptcy of its original lead contractor. It said on March 30 it had produced its first LNG.
“Golden Pass looks forward to sending off our first cargo, bringing Texas energy to power the world,” the company said in a statement.
Reuters previously reported the first cargo will be sent to Italy.
On Monday Golden Pass was expected to process 400 million cubic feet of gas, well short of its capacity of 800 mcf/d from the first of its three ‘train’ export facilities, according to LSEG data. The other two trains, or processing plants, are still under construction.
Train 1 has 6 million metric tons per annum of LNG capacity. Based on equity ownership, QatarEnergy will receive just over 4 mtpa and Exxon just under 2 mtpa, Exxon previously said.
The Exxon-chartered LNG carrier HL Sea Eagle was in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, with LSEG ship-tracking data showing it headed to Golden Pass, a sign it could load the second shipment from the facility.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston;)
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