Golden Pass LNG Feedgas Falls Near Zero, Facility Appears Offline

Golden Pass LNG appears to have paused operations after natural gas intake fell sharply, according to LSEG data, as commissioning work continues at the Texas export facility.

(Reuters) — Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil, has taken in little to no natural gas over the past three days and appears to be offline, according to data from financial firm LSEG.

The Texas-based export facility has been commissioning the first of its three LNG trains since March 30, with several start-and-stop periods as it tests and fine-tunes equipment.

When fully operational, Golden Pass is expected to export more than 18 million metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas and process up to 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

On June 29, the facility was requesting about 20 million cubic feet of natural gas for its first train, which has a capacity of roughly 800 million cubic feet per day, according to LSEG data.

The plant processed nearly 600 million cubic feet of gas on June 23, but the higher volumes led to flaring. In a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Golden Pass said it is continuing commissioning and startup activities at its Sabine Pass facility and that the cause of the flaring remains under investigation.

Golden Pass did not immediately respond to a request for comment.