Process Licensors in LNG Industry

According to World LNG Report 2025 by International Gas Union, Among the liquefaction trains that became operational in 2024:

1. Plaquemines LNG T1-T8 in the United States adopted Baker Hughes' single-cycle mixed refrigerant (SCMR) technology, 

2. Altamira LNG T1 in Mexico adopted New Fortress Energy's Fast LNG technology

3. Congo Marine XII FLNG in Congo adopted Black & Veatch's poly refrigerant integrated cycle operations (PRICO) technology.

4. Corpus Christi Stage 3 T1 in the United States has adopted ConocoPhillips' Optimized Cascade technology. 

5. Arctic LNG 2 T1 in Russia has chosen Linde's mixed fluid cascade (MFC) technology. However, the situation for Arctic LNG remains uncertain due to difficulties in securing suppliers. 

Currently, Air Products' (AP) liquefaction technologies still dominate the market in liquefaction methodology, representing about 66% of the total operational capacity in 2024, while AP-C3MR hold about a 55% share. Air Products Technologies is estimated to grow its use to 440 MTPA once QatarEnergy LNG, NLNG, Golden Pass LNG, Energía Costa Azul LNG, Mozambique LNG (Area 1), Rio Grande LNG, and Petronas FLNG 3 Tiga have been deployed. 

Baker Hughes (BHGE) Technologies is estimated to grow its use to 32 MTPA once the Plaquemines LNG projects have been completed. Linde Technologies was estimated to grow its use to 28 MTPA once Arctic LNG 2 and Woodfibre LNG's expansion have been deployed. However, the technology used for Arctic LNG is still unsure due to sanctions. ConocoPhillips' Optimized Cascade technology is estimated to grow its use to 128 MTPA once Corpus Christi Stage 3 in the US and Pluto LNG's expansion in Australia have been deployed. Once the QatarEnergy LNG projects are deployed, AP-X technology is expected to increase to 94 MTPA. When the Golden Pass LNG, NLNG, Rio Grande LNG, and Mozambique LNG (Area 1) projects are put into use, AP-C3MR technology will increase to 129 MTPA.

The roots of gas liquefaction technology date back to the start of the 1960s. In the initial batch of LNG export facilities, Arzew GL4Z T1-T3 adopted the Classic Cascade process developed by ConocoPhillips, while Kenai LNG adopted an early version of ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade process. Air Products introduced its Single Mixed Refrigerant technology (AP-SMR) to the liquefaction technology market in the 1970s, which was first applied at the Marsa El Brega LNG facility. During this period, the design capacity of liquefaction units was typically limited to 1.5 MTPA per train. These early installations served as experimental platforms for refining liquefaction technologies, aimed at efficiently cooling methane to approximately -162 degrees Celsius.

The AP-C3MR technology, which was first introduced at the Brunei LNG facility in 1972, gradually occupied a dominant position in liquefaction technology, accounting for approximately 55% of the global operating capacity by 2024 (including the SplitMR variation). The rising market share of the AP-C3MR technology can be attributed predominantly to QatarEnergy, with an expansion of capacity by roughly 30 MTPA since the launch of QatarGas 1 T1 in 1996. The Damietta LNG facility in Egypt was the first to incorporate the C3MR/ SplitMR technology, which has enhanced the AP-C3MR process by refining its mechanical layout to boost turbine efficiency.

The AP-X technology of Air Products was initially implemented in the QatarGas 2 project in 2009, facilitating a liquefaction capacity of 7.8 MTPA per train, marking it as the greatest per-train capacity in the LNG development history. The AP-X technology will also be employed in the QatarEnergy LNG project in Qatar, approved in 2021 and 2023, which involves six giant trains, each with a liquefaction capacity of 7.8 MTPA. The elevated liquefaction capacity is primarily achieved through the integration of an extra nitrogen refrigeration cycle with the C3MR technology, which serves a sub-cooling role and effectively adds to the refrigeration capacity. This innovative approach has also been applied in both operating and planned floating liquefaction facilities.

AP-N, a compact version derived from the AP-X supercooling technology, is installed on Petronas’ PFLNG 1 and PFLNG 2 in Malaysia,while Coral South FLNG in Mozambique and Energía Costa Azul LNG in Mexico are installing the AP-DMR process. AP-N is the only expander-based (EXP) technology employed in offshore development. Compared to the mixed refrigerant (MR) process, the EXP technology boasts simplicity and requires less equipment. Cameroon FLNG in Cameroon, Congo Marine XII FLNG in Congo, and GTA in Mauritania and Senegal adopted the Black & Veatch PRICO technology.

Facing tougher competition in the 2000s, the market share of Air Products’ liquefaction technology experienced a downturn, slipping from over 90% in the 1980s and 1990s to 66% in 2024. This decline is largely attributed to the rising adoption of ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade technology, as seen in projects such as Queensland Curtis LNG, Australia Pacific LNG, Sabine Pass LNG, Wheatstone LNG, and Corpus Christi LNG. The extensive implementation of ConocoPhillips’ Optimized Cascade Process has resulted in its being utilised in 113.9 MTPA of operational capacity, representing 22.8% of the market, and securing its position as the second-leading liquefaction technology in the market. The Optimized Cascade Process by ConocoPhillips was initially used at Kenai LNG in the late 1960s and reemerged with the startup of Atlantic LNG T1 in 1999.

New liquefaction projects are expected to increasingly enter the market from 2025 to 2030, mainly due to the rising demand for small and medium-sized LNG production trains. As the focus on exploiting small amounts of stranded natural gas grows, coupled with intensifying competition among financiers and LNG project offtakers, small and medium-sized LNG trains are emerging as a lower-risk alternative. These trains are characterised by their compact size, straightforward design, ease of standardisation, and modularisation, which translates into cost and time savings during construction and execution. In 2024, Plaquemines LNG, utilising BHGE SCMR technology, commenced operations with a capacity of 4.5 MTPA. While the large-scale LNG liquefaction technology market is dominated by a few companies, new technologies are emerging. One such technology is New Fortress Energy’s Fast LNG, which will be employed in the Altamira LNG T1 and T2 projects, with each train having a capacity of 1.4 MTPA.

Operator-driven liquefaction technologies continue to attract attention. The dual mixed refrigerant (DMR) process, developed by Shell and APCI, has been successfully implemented in the Sakhalin 2 LNG and Prelude FLNG projects and is set to be used at LNG Canada in 2025. This technology’s configuration process is similar to the AP- C3MR method, but instead of using pure propane in the exchanger, the DMR process is pre-cooled with a refrigerant blend that consists primarily of ethane and propane. The benefits of using the DMR process become more apparent in colder environments, as pre- cooling the mixed refrigerant can avoid the pressure limitations of propane at low temperatures. The Novatek Arctic Cascade process, specifically designed for the Arctic climate by Novatek, has been applied in Yamal LNG T4, with a capacity of 0.9 MTPA.

Due to safety considerations (reducing the use of highly flammable refrigerants) and limited space available on compact decks, small-scale FLNGs typically employ relatively simple liquefaction technologies. The first operational FLNG, PFLNG Satu, used the AP-N technology of Air Products, which is based on a simple nitrogen cooling cycle. Black & Veatch’s PRICO process has been successfully applied to the Cameroon FLNG. Compared to larger trains, these smaller modules, with a capacity of around 0.6 MTPA, allow for more optimised configurations and more efficient use of the limited deck area. As FLNGs with greater capacities are developed, increasingly complex technologies are being implemented; for instance, Prelude FLNG adopted Shell’s DMR technology in 2019, with a capacity of 3.6 MTPA, and Coral South FLNG adopted the AP-DMR technology in 2022, with a capacity of 3.4 MTPA.

This report is a copy from the IGU's World LNG Report 2025, all the informtion sources are given in the IGU's report. If you need copy of that report please get in touch on supportme@petrodiac.com or download it directly from IGU website.