New Fortress Energy ships first LNG from Altamira, Mexico

US liquefied natural gas (LNG) company New Fortress Energy said on Friday that it had shipped its first cargo of LNG from a US$2 billion platform offshore Altamira in northeastern Mexico.

The facility in the Gulf of Mexico consists of a 1.4Mt/y offshore liquefaction system. It liquefies natural gas supplied from the US by the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline.

The offshore platform, which New Fortress Energy has dubbed Fast LNG 1 or FLNG1, treats and liquefies the pipeline gas for shipping to customers around the world.

New Fortress Energy repurposed three offshore drilling rigs and converted them into a liquefaction platform. The site took three years to construct and commission. The company said it was the fastest large-scale LNG project ever developed.

It has developed the project in partnership with CFE, Mexico’s state-owned electric utility. 

The US government has authorized New Fortress Energy to export LNG to Mexico and other countries with which the US has a free trade agreement. New Fortress Energy has also received approval from the Mexican energy ministry to export up to 7.8Mt (million tons) through April 2028.

In 2023 the company signed a non-binding letter of intent with CFE to explore installing a second FLNG facility at an underutilized onshore terminal in Altamira. 

After securing financing commitments of US$700 million, it expects to complete construction of FLNG2 in 2026. 

The US Department of Energy has said this second project may not be covered by the company's existing export authorization. 

The New Fortress Energy facility is one of a slew of LNG projects that are being developed across Mexico, but it is the first to ship LNG.