The Flint HIlls Resources LNG plant in Corpus Christi has been authorized by the Department of Energy to export its product to countries that have free-trade agreements with the U.S. Courtesy photo
Flint Hills Resources’ new LNG plant in George West outside of Corpus Christi just paid off. An order giving FHR the right to export liquified natural gas from its Eagle Ford LNG facility was granted April 13 by the United States Department of Energy. A venture between FHR and Stabilis Energy, the LNG plant has been authorized to ship 3.62 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year for the next 20 years.
Liquified natural gas, or LNG, is a natural gas converted to liquid form for ease of transport. It takes up about 1/600th the space the product as a gas. When burned, it emits much less pollutants than petroleum. It is used to to run high horsepower fuel applications such as drilling, pressure pumping and transportation. It is also used to generate electricity, for mining, and in the rail and marine industries.
For now, Flint Hills may only export to countries with a U.S. free trade agreement, including Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Mexico South Korea and others. A separate order to export to non-free trade countries such as Japan, China and Europe, is soon expected to be handed down by the DOE.
Although the order includes permission to ship from ports in Brownsville and Houston, FHR has a refinery at the Port of Corpus Christi, as well as pipelines and the infrastructure needed to load LNG onto tankers for exporting.
The Corpus Christi plant, which went online in March 2015, has the capacity to produce 120,000 gallons of LNG per day. It can store up to 270,000 gallons. Flint Hills Resources is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc. and is based in Wichita, Kansas. Operating as Koch Petroleum Group, the company first came into the Corpus Christi market when it purchased a refinery here in 1981.
