Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. says that substantial completion of Train 3 of the Sabine Pass liquefaction project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, was achieved on March 28.

Commissioning has been completed and Cheniere Partners' EPC partner Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals, Inc. is turning over control of Train 3 to Cheniere Partners.

An LNG tanker.Under a sale and purchase agreement with Korea Gas Corp., the date of first commercial delivery for Train 3 is expected in June 2017.

LNG is produced by taking natural gas from a production field, removing impurities, and liquefying the natural gas. In the liquefaction process, the gas is cooled to around -260 degrees F at ambient pressure. This condensed liquid form of natural gas takes up about 1/600th of the volume of natural gas at a stove burner tip.

The LNG is loaded onto double-hulled ships which are used for both safety and insulating purposes. Once the ship arrives at the receiving port, the LNG is typically off-loaded into well-insulated storage tanks. Regasification converts the LNG back into its gas form, which enters the domestic pipeline distribution system and is ultimately delivered to the end-user.

Cheniere Partners is developing and operating natural gas liquefaction facilities at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. Plans call for Cheniere to build up to six liquefaction trains, which are in various stages of development, construction, and operations.

Trains 1, 2, and 3 have achieved substantial completion, and Train 4 is in the commissioning process. Train 5 is under construction, and Train 6 is permitted and is being commercialized.

Each liquefaction train is expected to have a production capacity of approximately 4.5 million tonnes per annum ("mtpa") of LNG. SPL has entered into six third-party LNG purchase agreements that equal around 19.75 mtpa of LNG.

Cheniere says the construction costs are competitive since the Sabine Pass LNG terminal already has many of the facilities required for an export terminal. Sabine Pass Liquefaction will have access to the existing infrastructure, including five storage tanks and two berths at the Sabine Pass terminal, as well as Cheniere Partner’s 94-mile-long Creole Trail Pipeline, which was reconfigured to reverse the flow of natural gas, making it a bi-directional pipeline.