CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Cheniere Energy said they are ahead of schedule on their $8-billion-dollar expansion in Ingleside.
Corey Grindal, the COO of Cheniere Energy, spoke with 3NEWS Friday about how the war in Ukraine is affecting local LNG exports.
"We'll probably have full-time employees, about 450 full-time employees. And we'll probably have at least that number in contractors," he said.
Grindal gave 3NEWS an update on the company's $8B expansion project that is being built by Bechtel in Ingleside. He said it's now close to 43 per cent complete and should be completed by the end of 2026.
"The training facilities I was talking about, that's the front portion of the train," he said. "The rest of the train then takes that gas and then turns it into a liquid by going through these thermal cycles taking it from that 70 degrees Fahrenheit to those 260 degrees below zero. So, the trains themselves are the processing facilities."
The COO said that war in Ukraine resulted in Russia no longer supplying Europe with LNG and they now expect to provide at least 80 per cent of European LNG this year.
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi economics professor Dr. Jim Lee spoke with 3NEWS on the long-term impact that will have on the Coastal Bend area.
"This project is significant in a sense that it's going to keep Corpus Christi on the map in terms of being an energy hub for at least the next ten years," he said.
Lee said not only does that make Cheniere a major provider of what is considered the cleanest modern fuel, it means jobs will continue to be more specialized, ultimately making the work force less labor intensive.
"The expectation and the long-term forecast for crude oil is declining over time. Not to say it's not going to be important because we still need plastics, all kinds of things, products, coming from crude oil, but LNG or natural gas will continue to be an important energy source especially for Texas."
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