自由港在LNG出口工厂4号生产线的建设再延迟

据天然气加工新闻网8月3日报道，美国液化天然气公司自由港液化天然气(Freeport LNG )要求联邦能源监管机构再延长三年，直到2026年5月，在其位于德克萨斯州的液化天然气出口工厂完成其拟议的第四条液化生产线。

美国联邦能源监管委员会（FERC）于2019年5月批准建造第四条生产线，要求自由港在2023年5月之前的四年内完成该设施的建设。

与全球其他LNG出口商一样，因新冠疫情需求遭到破坏，欧洲和亚洲的汽油价格跌至创纪录的低点之后，自由港推迟了对今年初建造第四条生产线做出最终投资决定（FID）的计划。

自由港发言人希瑟·布朗（Heather Browne）表示，鉴于因新冠疫情当前的市场状况，自由港LNG预计今年不会对第四条条液化生产线做出FID，其并指出“如果市场状况改善，我们可以准备在2021年中期开始建造。”

在3月推迟FID之前，自由港曾表示计划于2020年第一季度对4号生产线做出决定，这将使该设备于2023年投入使用。

在2019年中，包括Freeport在内的十几个北美开发商表示，他们计划在年底之前做出FID。但是这些项目都没有在建。所有这些FID都被推迟到2020年或更晚。

在今年年初，另外十二个开发商（其中一些来自2019年）表示，他们计划在今年年底之前做出FID。然而，目前，这一总数已减少到只有四个，分析家称，他们预计今年只有一个项目可以实际进行。

自由港的每条生产线设计成年产约500万吨LNG，即约70亿立方英尺/天。

郝芬 译自 天然气加工新闻网

原文如下:

Freeport seeks more time to build Train 4 at LNG export plant

U.S. LNG company Freeport LNG asked federal energy regulators for three more years until May 2026 to complete its proposed fourth liquefaction train at its LNG export plant in Texas.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved construction of the fourth train in May 2019, requiring Freeport to finish the facility within four years by May 2023.

Like other LNG exporters around the world, Freeport put off making a final investment decision (FID) to build the fourth train earlier this year after gas prices in Europe and Asia collapsed to record lows due to coronavirus demand destruction.

“Given the current market conditions resulting from COVID-19, Freeport LNG does not expect to reach FID on Train 4 this year,” Freeport spokeswoman Heather Browne said, noting “we can be ready to start construction by mid-2021, if market conditions improve.”

Before delaying the FID in March, Freeport had said it planned to make a decision on Train 4 during the first quarter of 2020, which would have enabled the unit to enter service in 2023.

In mid-2019, a dozen North American developers, including Freeport, said they planned to make FIDs by the end of the year. But none of those projects are under construction. All of those FIDs were delayed until 2020 or later.

At the start of 2020, another dozen developers - some from 2019 - said they planned to make FIDs by the end of this year. Currently, however, that total is down to just four, and analysts said they expect only one project to actually go forward this year.

Each train at Freeport is designed to produce about 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG or around 0.7 billion cubic feet per day。