Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The company in charge of operations at the Freeport LNG export facility in Texas said the lack of pressure protections on its equipment was to blame for a June 8 explosion that's kept the facility offline.
Freeport is the second-largest facility of the kind in the United States. The explosion at the facility in June came just as the global energy sector was working to adjust to the marginalization of Russian natural gas that came as a result of the war in Ukraine.
The company on Tuesday provided information from the analysis of the incident by investigative company IFO Group, which found the direct cause of the explosion was the lack of proper pressure protections on a pipeline segment. This led to the warming and subsequent expansion of the super-cooled liquefied natural gas in the system, the eventual boiling of the liquid and ultimately the pipeline rupture.
Secondary causes were associated in part with testing procedures, while "operator fatigue as a result of significant overtime needs" was listed among the contributing causes of the incident.
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At its peak, Freeport could process about 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d) and export as much as 15 million tons of LNG each year. The company provided no information on a possible restart date.
While seasonal and demand factors apply, U.S. data suggest LNG exports are down due to the loss of Freeport. Between Nov. 3 and Nov. 9, federal data show 21 vessels laden with U.S.-derived LNG left export terminals with a combined 78 billion cubic feet of gas in liquid form.
But before the incident, between May 19 and May 25, data show 24 vessels left with a combined capacity of 90 billion cubic feet of product.
Federal estimates, meanwhile, show total U.S. LNG exports are on pace to increase by around 13% from this year's average to reach 12.33 Bcf/d on average for 2023.
