- US developer Caturus has finalised long‑term sale and purchase agreements for offtake from the planned Commonwealth LNG export terminal.
- With commercialisation completed, Caturus will begin financing and aims to take a final investment decision (FID) within weeks.
- The Phase 1 development in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, is a $12.5 billion project. It will produce 9.5 million tonnes of LNG per year, has already sold 8 Mt/y of capacity and expects to start operations in 2030.
US energy company Caturus has taken a major step towards building one of the world’s largest new LNG plants.
On 7 April the firm announced that it had secured binding offtake agreements with a roster of international buyers – including EQT, Glencore, Mercuria, Malaysia’s Petronas LNG and Saudi Aramco’s trading arm – for its proposed Commonwealth LNG export terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
The deals, which cover almost all of the facility’s planned 9.5 million‑tonne‑per‑year capacity, mark the completion of the project’s commercialisation and clear the way for project financing and a final investment decision.
According to Caturus, Phase 1 of Commonwealth LNG will cost $12.5 billion and is expected to start operations in 2030, generating about $3.5 billion a year in export revenue. Of the 9.5 Mt/y capacity, 8 Mt/y has already been sold, with the company planning to retain around 1 Mt/y for trading.
The developer also holds a 20‑year US Department of Energy authorisation to export LNG to countries without free‑trade agreements. Behind the scenes, Caturus has authorised its EPC partner Technip Energies to start procuring long‑lead equipment, including compressors, cryogenic heat exchangers and turbine‑generators.
Funding for the project is supported by a consortium of investors, including Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Energy, which owns roughly 24% of Caturus. The company is also expanding its upstream footprint; it plans to acquire SM Energy’s Galvan Ranch in South Texas, which will increase production to about 1 billion cubic feet equivalent per day and place Caturus among the top ten private US gas producers.
Once complete, Commonwealth LNG will significantly boost US export capacity, offering Europe and Asia additional supply options at a time when the war in Iran has constrained global gas flows and pushed prices higher.
For UK buyers, greater availability of US LNG could ease price volatility and reduce dependence on Middle East cargoes, but it will also require navigating long‑term contracts and infrastructure constraints such as transatlantic shipping and regasification slots.
