Cheniere Corpus Christi Pipeline LP no longer requires the northernmost piece of its 48-inch-diameter pipeline designed to move natural gas between the U.S. pipeline system and the LNG export terminal of its Cheniere Energy Inc. affiliate Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC, and the Federal Energy Regulator Commission let the pipeline company delete the section from its plans.

In a Dec. 20 order, FERC vacated in part authorizations from a December 2014 order that had allowed Cheniere Corpus Christi Pipeline to build a 23-mile, bidirectional gas pipeline between the interstate and intrastate gas pipeline network and the terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Cheniere told FERC that it no longer needs the last 1.5 miles of pipeline between the Sinton compressor station and an interconnect with the system of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. Cheniere built two 1.2-mile, 36-inch-diameter headers to make the best use of horsepower at the compressor station and to accommodate a pressure differential with an interconnecting interstate pipeline, and as a result, it does not need to build the original northern section of the 48-inch-diameter line.

In November 2018, Cheniere told FERC that the pipeline project would cost about $398.9 million, about $46.4 million more than previous estimates.

Cheniere Corpus Christi Pipeline placed the pipeline project in service in June 2018. The pipeline has 73,000 horsepower of compression that supports up to 2.25 Bcf/d of gas transportation capacity. (FERC docket CP12-508)

The main Corpus Christi LNG terminal is expected to produce 13.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG once all units are online. Cheniere operates two trains at the terminal, and it plans to complete construction of a third train in the first half of 2021.

FERC approved an expansion of the terminal Nov. 21. Cheniere has said it plans to make a final investment decision on the 9.5-mtpa expansion in the first half of 2020.