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Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project

Aerial view of the Corpus Christi LNG project site seen from the southeast with a solar flare in the background. Aerial view of the Corpus Christi LNG project site seen from the southeast with a solar flare in the background.
Exterior view of LNG tang against a blue sky.
An aerial view ship docked at project site.

Providing Cleaner, More Flexible Energy

Cheniere Energy selected Bechtel as their partner to support their efforts to increase global access to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and help meet the growing demand for this cleaner, more reliable, and flexible energy source. 

Bechtel helped Cheniere develop the U.S.’s first greenfield LNG export facility in fifty years, the Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility. LNG is safely and securely sent overseas from the facility’s location on the Texas Gulf Coast. This location is situated near some of the most prolific natural gas producing regions in the country and connected to the U.S. natural gas pipeline network.  

Beyond this project, Cheniere and Bechtel have worked together for almost two decades. To date, we have completed nine LNG trains between Cheniere’s two Gulf Coast facilities. All nine trains were completed ahead of schedule and within project budgets. With the Stage 3 expansion underway, up to seven additional LNG trains are in the EPC phase to support the growing demand for natural gas around the world. The first train of Stage 3 reached substantial completion in March 2025. 

About the Project

The first two LNG trains were completed in 2019 and the third was completed in 2021. The development of Train 1 won the Global Best Project Award in Power/Industrial from ENRNews.

This 1,000+ acre facility contains four liquefaction units, or trains, with a total capacity of roughly 16.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

In March 2025, Cheniere issued Bechtel a second limited notice to proceed to continue advancing the expansion of CCL Stage 3, known as the Midscale Trains 8-9 and End Flash Gas Project. The expansion will add two midscale trains, powered by Chart Technology, with motor-driven refrigeration compressors, and operational optimizations, such as additional boil-off-gas compression and an end-flash gas unit. When operational, this addition will add 3 mtpa of LNG. 

Operating Facility at a Glance

15M
Tonnes

Total capacity per annum across three trains.

266K
Cubic Meters

Two berths that can receive the world’s largest LNG carrier, the Q-Max, to better meet demand.

480K
Cubic Meters

Three storage tanks holding up to 48,000 cubic meters of LNG.

Uses ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade® process to efficiently and effectively cool the natural gas.

Environmental Focus

During the build, the Bechtel and Cheniere teams facilitated the construction of more than $8 million of breakwater projects to minimize shoreline erosion along the gulf and to protect and enhance sensitive wetland resources.

Equity on Site

The Bechtel and Cheniere teams partnered with the National Hispanic Entrepreneurs’ Organization (NHEO) Institute to ensure equity by identifying and eliminating barriers among its non-native English speakers. 

Bechtel also partnered with NHEO to create the Building a Safer Future campaign designed for craft professionals to help reduce and ultimately eliminate construction-related hazards.

Onsite Tech Increases Safety and Enhances Communications

The Bechtel team used 20 innovative solutions to improve cost and schedule. These included drones to survey the site and locate equipment, robotic automation bots to increase efficiency, single interface apps for planning, assigning, tracking, and claiming work packages across a range of field disciplines, and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for on-time material deliveries.

To keep safe during the pandemic, colleagues also used a mobile app that enabled real-time collaboration with technicians and engineers in the field and those working remote.

Supporting the Local Community

At the onset of the pandemic, the Corpus Christi project team donated more than 30,000 lbs. of food and water to the Coastal Bend Food Bank, gave $16,000 to local charities using profits from an onsite metal recycling program, and donated 1,000 N-95 respirators to the local Fire Department and first responders.

Both Cheniere and Bechtel, through its Bechtel Group foundation, separately donated to the American Red Cross to help after Hurricane Harvey, which significantly impacted the local community in 2017.  

In April 2025, the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage 3 (CCL3) project site and Cheniere partnered to enhance Our Children’s Park in Gregory, TX, strengthening our commitments to community support. Volunteers refurbished the basketball court and soccer field goals, resurfaced the splash pad, painted park benches and the sign, mulched play areas, and cleaned up the debris around the park.