New Fortress Energy Inc. (NFE) has reportedly achieved first LNG at its export terminal offshore of Altamira, indicating it could be close to loading Mexico’s first export cargo.
Market analysts have been honing in on Central Mexico’s east coast after an LNG tanker anchored Thursday near NFE’s storage vessel at the floating Altamira liquefied natural gas facility. The arrival of the Energos Princess, a tanker owned by NFE and Apollo Global Management’s shipping joint venture, coincided with the company’s guidance that it could begin loading cargoes in mid-July.
On Friday, the company disclosed it had achieved its goal of achieving the fastest timeline from construction to first LNG for a large-scale export facility with the start of liquefaction at Altamira.
“First LNG represents a transformative moment for our company and the industry as a whole, and reaffirms our position as a fully-integrated leader in the global LNG market,” CEO Wes Edens said.
Crews last summer began installing the floating modules offshore the state of Tamaulipas. Gas connections to existing infrastructure near the existing import terminal at Altamira were completed in November.
The first phase of the export project consists of two trains, each with 1.4 million metric tons/year (mmty) of capacity, hoisted on jack-up rigs. The FLNG units, and successive phases planned onshore, are supplied feed gas by the marketing arm of Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), CFEnergía, from the Agua Dulce Hub in South Texas via the Valley Crossing pipeline. CFE transports volumes on the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline.
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In late April, NFE reported a malfunction with the facility’s cold box that resulted in some minor injuries and released perlite that was being used during system testing. The issue further delayed the facility’s first export, previously expected in June.
NGI’s forward fixed prices at Agua Dulce for August delivery were $1.697/MMBtu as of Friday, versus $1.65 for the summer balance. Summer 2025 prices were trading at $2.644. Agua Dulce basis prices were quoted 54.4 cents below Henry Hub for summer 2024, and 47.8 cents below the benchmark for summer 2025.
While NFE is nearing its next milestone for the project, analysts with Wood Mackenzie noted that it could take several more weeks for the Energos Princess to actually leave Altamira’s anchorage with a tanker full of LNG.
“Considering the project’s evolution in the past year or so, we do not rule out a new delay that could push Altamira’s first commercial LNG shipment to August,” analysts wrote in a recent note.
Once the vessel is on its way, there are a few possible destinations for Mexico’s first export cargo.
NFE previously received a permit to export to FTA countries, allowing it to ship volumes to its existing customers in Puerto Rico or to import facilities in the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled earlier this year that transportation of LNG produced offshore Altamira by non-U.S. qualified vessels would not violate the Jones Act.
Altamira is one of at least seven commercially advanced projects in the United States and Mexico with a pending application for a non-free trade agreement (FTA) permit impacted by the Department of Energy’s pause on new authorizations.
