CBP ruling clears way for Mexican LNG exports from Altamira Fast FLNG to Puerto Rico

Rendering of Fast FLNG installation [Image: New Fortress Energy]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rulings on Jones Act compliance are always controversial, but New York, N.Y., headquartered New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NFE) has welcomed a CBP ruling confirming that the transportation of LNG produced at the company’s Altamira Fast FLNG facility, located offshore Altamira, Mexico, by non-U.S. qualified vessels would not violate the Jones Act.

As a result of the CBP ruling, says New Fortress, it is now able to sell and deliver LNG produced at the Altamira facility to U.S. locations, including Puerto Rico, seen by New Fortress as a key downstream market for the company.

Direct exports of LNG from the U.S. mainland to Puerto Rico would, of course, require the use of Jones Act qualified LNG carriers.

“We are extremely pleased to receive this ruling for our FLNG facility since it not only supports one of the company’s largest projects but also supports the people of Puerto Rico,” said Wes Edens, Chairman and CEO of New Fortress Energy.

The Altamira facility has been built using New Fortress’s proprietary Fast LNG design based on standardized, modular liquefaction units built in a shipyard — in the case of the Altamira Fast FLNG facility, the modules were fabricated at the Kiewit facility in Ingleside, Texas, with the third and final unit sailing away on October 26, 2023 to join the other units offshore Mexico.

Earlier, in June last year, New Fortress reported that it had received an export permit for the Altamira Fast LNG facility from Mexico’s Ministry of Energy (Secretaría de Energía (SENER) authorized the export up to 7.8 million metric tons through April, 2028, providing ample capacity to support the operations of the 1.4 million tons per annum (MTPA) Fast LNG facility through the permitted period.