US DOE Green Light Set to Make Corpus Christi Second Largest US LNG Scheme

(Credit: Cheniere Energy)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved a 12% expansion in exports at Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Texas, authorizing additional shipments to non-free trade agreement countries.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed the order allowing exports of up to 0.47 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas as LNG from Trains 8 and 9 of the Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project, known as the Midscale Trains 8 & 9 Project.

With the latest approval, Corpus Christi LNG is authorized to export a total of 4.45 Bcf/d, making it the second largest LNG export project in the United States.

Secretary Wright announced the decision during a visit to the terminal, where he also highlighted the 10-year anniversary of the first cargo of U.S. LNG exported from the lower-48 states.

“In the last ten years, American innovation and President Trump’s leadership transformed the United States into the world’s largest exporter of LNG.

“This order helps further strengthen America’s LNG export capacity, delivering peace abroad and prosperity for Americans at home. I could not be prouder to be here today in Corpus Christi, standing alongside the American workers responsible for unleashing American energy dominance,” said Secretary Wright.

Corpus Christi LNG has operated as an export terminal since 2018. Cheniere Energy announced a positive final investment decision on Trains 8 and 9 in June 2025.

The United States is currently the world’s largest producer of natural gas and the largest LNG exporter. Since the Trump administration ended the previous administration’s LNG export approval ban to non-FTA countries, the Department of Energy has approved more than 18.2 Bcf/d of LNG export authorizations, a volume exceeding the export capacity of the world’s second largest LNG exporting nation.

U.S. LNG exports increased from 0.5 Bcf/d in 2016 to 15.0 Bcf/d in 2025. In its February Short-Term Energy Outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast that LNG exports will exceed 18.1 Bcf/d in 2027.