A small to mid-scale liquefied natural gas production system and method is provided. The disclosed liquefied natural gas production system employs at least one heat exchanger, three turbine/ expanders and at least three refrigerant compression stages. The expansion ratio of one turbine/ expander is appreciably lower than the expansion ratio of the other turbine/ expanders such that the temperature of the exhaust stream from the turbine/ expander with the lower expansion ratio is above the critical point temperature of the compressed natural gas containing feed stream but colder than about -15° C. The present system and method may be configured using either a single nitrogen-based expansion refrigerant circuit or two separate refrigerant circuits wherein the turbine/ expander with the lowest expansion ratio is contained within a separate refrigeration circuit from the other two turbine/ expanders with the higher expansion ratios.