Chart Industries to deliver LNG heat exchangers and cold boxes for Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur Phase 2 expansion

Chart Industries has been selected to provide air-cooled heat exchangers and cold boxes for Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project in Texas, reinforcing the company’s role as a leading supplier of cryogenic and liquefaction equipment for the expanding U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. The award extends Chart Industries’ long-standing collaboration with Bechtel, the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for both phases of the Port Arthur facility. The project is among the largest LNG developments currently underway in North America and is positioned as a cornerstone of the next U.S. export growth cycle.

The new contract includes the supply of critical air-cooled heat exchangers and modular cold box assemblies used in the liquefaction and thermal management stages of LNG production. These systems are part of Chart Industries’ proprietary Hudson and Air-X product lines, which are designed for high reliability and efficiency in large-scale gas processing. Chart’s continued involvement from Phase 1 into Phase 2 highlights the company’s ability to execute at scale while meeting the stringent operational and environmental demands of LNG megaprojects.

How the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project fits into Sempra Infrastructure’s long-term export strategy and global energy positioning

Phase 2 of the Port Arthur LNG facility represents a significant expansion of Sempra Infrastructure’s Gulf Coast export capacity. Once completed, the second phase will add two liquefaction trains, an additional storage tank, a new marine berth, and upgraded utilities, bringing the total facility output to approximately 26 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). This will make Port Arthur one of the largest single-site LNG terminals in the United States.

Sempra Infrastructure’s decision to proceed with the Phase 2 build-out underscores its confidence in sustained global demand for U.S. LNG. The company has advanced a financing structure backed by a consortium of investors, including Blackstone, KKR, Apollo-managed funds, and Goldman Sachs. The arrangement allows Sempra to retain a 50.1 percent controlling interest, while its partners collectively hold the remaining minority equity. The total investment across both phases is projected to exceed $14 billion.

In addition to its financial structuring, Sempra has strengthened the commercial viability of the project through a series of long-term offtake agreements. Buyers such as EQT Corporation, ConocoPhillips, and JERA have committed to multi-decade supply contracts that effectively de-risk much of the capacity for Phase 2. The first cargoes from the expanded site are expected to be shipped around 2030–2031, assuming the construction schedule remains on track.

This second-phase expansion has also cleared major regulatory milestones. The U.S. Department of Energy granted export authorization earlier this year, while the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) confirmed its environmental and technical compliance. Together, these approvals remove two of the most significant barriers that typically delay large-scale LNG developments in the United States.

Why Chart Industries’ engineering scope and technology selection matter for large-scale LNG execution and reliability

Chart Industries’ contract covers a combination of air-cooled heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers, and cold boxes—systems that serve as the thermal backbone of an LNG train. These components are essential for liquefying natural gas, which requires cooling the gas stream to approximately −162 °C while maintaining continuous thermal efficiency across variable ambient conditions.

Chart’s technology advantage lies in its vertically integrated manufacturing footprint and the modular nature of its designs. Air-cooled exchangers from Chart’s Hudson and Air-X brands offer high energy transfer efficiency with lower maintenance requirements, while its cold boxes are optimized for compact installation and easy serviceability—features particularly valuable to EPC firms like Bechtel that aim to minimize onsite construction risks.

The decision to retain Chart Industries for the second project phase also reflects operational continuity benefits. By using the same vendor for both phases, Sempra Infrastructure and Bechtel can streamline procurement, reduce interface complexity, and ensure uniform thermal performance standards across all liquefaction trains. The familiarity with Chart’s design documentation, fabrication procedures, and testing protocols effectively shortens project learning curves—a valuable asset in megaprojects where every month of schedule adherence can translate to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue.

Technically, the project plays directly into Chart’s strengths in LNG, hydrogen, and carbon capture applications. The company has spent years expanding its cryogenic product line to serve a diversified clean-energy customer base, and its selection here reaffirms its position as one of the few global manufacturers capable of supplying the full range of cryogenic process equipment.

How this award influences Chart Industries’ market standing amid LNG capacity expansion and global energy rebalancing

For Chart Industries, the Port Arthur Phase 2 order arrives at a pivotal moment. The company has maintained a strong backlog of LNG and hydrogen projects but has also faced scrutiny from investors over execution risk and integration costs following its 2023 acquisition of Howden. Securing another high-profile U.S. LNG contract demonstrates continued trust in Chart’s delivery performance and product reliability, potentially offsetting investor concerns about near-term balance-sheet pressure.

This development also coincides with Chart Industries’ pending acquisition by Baker Hughes, a deal that is expected to enhance its access to global distribution channels and joint R&D resources. Once integrated, Baker Hughes is likely to leverage Chart’s LNG equipment expertise to deepen its own participation in downstream liquefaction and midstream gas processing. The partnership could unlock operational synergies and scale benefits, particularly in the modularization of liquefaction systems and the use of advanced composite materials to reduce equipment weight and improve thermal conductivity.

At an industry level, the order reinforces a broader macro trend: U.S. LNG is becoming a primary balancing agent in global energy supply chains. With Europe continuing to diversify away from Russian gas and Asia seeking flexible LNG procurement, projects like Port Arthur Phase 2 provide geopolitical leverage for the United States while securing long-term export revenues. For equipment suppliers like Chart Industries, that translates into multi-year visibility on demand and a stable pipeline of repeat orders across LNG terminals, gas processing facilities, and floating liquefaction platforms.

What factors may shape investor sentiment and capital-market interpretation of Chart Industries’ continued LNG wins

Investor response to the contract announcement has been broadly positive, as the market views it as validation of Chart Industries’ competitive moat in LNG equipment manufacturing. The stock has traded in line with the energy-infrastructure index over recent months, showing moderate volatility but steady institutional accumulation. Analysts note that recurring participation in major LNG expansions such as Port Arthur, Golden Pass, and Plaquemines positions Chart favorably to capture incremental share in cryogenic equipment globally.

Still, market observers caution that execution and cost management remain critical. The long manufacturing lead times for large heat exchangers and cold boxes can expose suppliers to fluctuations in raw-material prices, logistics bottlenecks, and project-specific customization costs. Additionally, the eventual integration under Baker Hughes introduces both opportunity and uncertainty—synergies could enhance EBITDA margins, but restructuring may also temporarily affect project delivery cadence.

Institutional sentiment remains largely constructive. Portfolio managers focusing on U.S. infrastructure growth and industrial decarbonization themes have highlighted Chart’s dual exposure to LNG and hydrogen as a differentiating factor. As of the latest quarter, the company’s order book exceeded $9 billion, with LNG projects accounting for a significant share of forward revenue visibility.

The Port Arthur Phase 2 award thus carries both immediate and long-term implications. In the short term, it sustains backlog momentum and reinforces Chart’s credibility in executing complex EPC-linked contracts. Over the longer horizon, it provides optionality for cross-technology deployments—potentially including future carbon-capture or hydrogen-ready integrations within LNG facilities.

How Sempra Infrastructure and Chart Industries together exemplify the next phase of U.S. LNG industrial evolution

The partnership between Sempra Infrastructure, Bechtel, and Chart Industries encapsulates a broader industrial evolution underway across North American energy infrastructure. Rather than viewing LNG purely as a fossil-fuel export play, developers and equipment suppliers are reframing it as an enabler of global energy transition—bridging renewables intermittency while offering lower-carbon alternatives to coal.

Chart Industries’ technology plays a vital enabling role here, its advanced thermal systems reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit of LNG produced, while its modular designs facilitate faster deployment with smaller site footprints. For Sempra Infrastructure, such equipment decisions align with its ESG commitments to improve carbon intensity metrics and enhance the environmental profile of U.S. LNG exports.

If successfully executed, Port Arthur Phase 2 could become a reference project for next-generation LNG developments that blend scale, efficiency, and cleaner production methods. It also signals that the domestic LNG supply chain—from engineering to fabrication—is maturing to meet global standards of reliability and sustainability.

The coming quarters will test not only construction progress but also how effectively Chart Industries, under the emerging Baker Hughes umbrella, can capitalize on this momentum to expand its cryogenic technology leadership. In an increasingly competitive global LNG landscape, the ability to deliver both performance and predictability may prove the most valuable differentiator of all.