New Fortress Energy (NFE) has shipped its first cargo from its Fast LNG 1 project, an offshore project in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 275 miles off the southern tip of Texas.

On August 9, the company released the news in a video on YouTube and celebrated the success. New Fortress develops modular liquefaction plants. The Fast LNG 1 project combines the modular design with an offshore plant.

“The first cargo milestone is important because we have now proven that the Fast LNG concept is an innovative approach to producing liquefied natural gas by combining modular surface plants with existing substructures,” said Barry Clayton, operations manager at Fast LNG 1, in the video.

The cargo will be transported via an international route to a domestic destination: Mexico’s gas-poor Pacific coast. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the tanker Energos Princess was scheduled to transit the Panama Canal before delivering the cargo to a Mexican LNG import terminal on the Baja Peninsula.

The U.S. Department of Energy has regulatory authority over Fast LNG 1 because it is fed by the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan offshore pipeline, owned by TC Energy (TRP), which transports natural gas from the United States.

The Department of Energy approved exports of 430 MMcf/d from the facility to countries with which the United States has a free trade agreement (FTA). New Fortress is currently seeking approval from the Department of Energy to ship up to 400 MMcf/d to countries with which it does not have a free trade agreement.

Before announcing the shipment, New Fortress said the facility was not yet completed and full operations could begin “significantly later than the time of the first shipment.”

An LNG terminal is currently being built on Mexico’s west coast: the $1.2 billion Energia Costa Azul LNG project is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2026. Five other LNG projects on the country’s west coast are under development, but no final investment decision has been made for any of them.

According to an Aug. 16 analysis by East Daley Analytics, the Fast LNG 1 terminal will initially serve customers primarily on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The shipments will eventually provide feed gas to several power plants in Baja, a region with limited gas pipeline infrastructure that often relies on oil-fired generation for its electricity needs.

East Daley said the launch of the LNG project will increase demand on several natural gas pipeline systems in South Texas’ Agua Dulce area. Two pipelines, the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan and Enbridge’s Valley Crossing Pipeline, will particularly benefit from the additional traffic.

The Valley Crossing line connects to the Sur De Texas line at the U.S.-Mexico border. East Daley predicts that the additional traffic created by the Fast LNG project will stabilize demand in a system that has historically experienced fluctuating yields due to seasonal demand and international price fluctuations.