The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on March 24 approved Cheniere Energy Inc.’s request to put the third liquefaction train at the company’s Corpus Christi LNG export plant in Texas into service.

The train has already been operating for months in test mode.

With the new train in service, there are now three trains operating at Corpus Christi.

Each train has the capacity to produce about 5.0 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG, which is equivalent to about 0.66 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas.

As more units under construction enter service, U.S. LNG export capacity is expected to rise to 11.9 Bcf/d in 2022 from 10.5 Bcf/d now.

By the mid-2020s, analysts expect the United States will become the biggest LNG exporter in the world, ahead of current global leaders Qatar and Australia.