“In 31 months, we are proud to announce that we have gas in the system and we hope to complete commissioning by the end of the year,” said New Fortress CFO Christopher Guinta, referring to the time it took to complete the first Altamira train .
The company, which has said that the first train for the Fast LNG project in Altamira would cost about $1 billion, did not release a schedule for trains 2-5 that it also plans to build.
However, it said it is considering deploying some of the infrastructure needed for some of Altamira’s future trains on land, which would require separate permits from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The company has forecast that Altamira trains 2 and 3 will cost about $900 million each, according to previously published estimates.
New Fortress had said one of the remaining LNG trains in Mexico would connect to the Lakach natural gas field, which it planned to develop jointly with state oil company Pemex.
However, Pemex and New Fortress recently abandoned the Lakach deal Reuters reported on Tuesday.
New Fortress officials did not specifically refer to Lakach during their presentation, but said that from a capital investment perspective, the firm is currently “very focused on FLNG 1 and FLNG 2” in Mexico and has “no other plans other than that”.
In addition to New Fortress’ Altamira export plant, US company Sempra Energy and its partners are building the Costa Azul liquefied natural gas export plant in Mexico. The project, worth around $2 billion, is expected to begin production in mid-2025.
Several other companies are also planning liquefied natural gas export plants in Mexico, but no other developers have yet made a final investment decision on their projects.
Mexico is attractive for companies due to its transportation capacity in gas pipelines and maritime infrastructure to bring gas to markets such as Asia and Europe.