ExxonMobil, Qatar Petroleum authorize Golden Pass LNG exports

Feb. 5, 2019
ExxonMobil Corp. and partner Qatar Petroleum have made a final investment decision to develop the Golden Pass LNG export project in Sabine Pass, Tex. Construction will begin in this year’s first quarter with the plant expected to begin operations in 2024.

Changes were made to this article Feb. 5.

ExxonMobil Corp. and partner Qatar Petroleum have made a final investment decision to develop the Golden Pass LNG export project in Sabine Pass, Tex. Construction will begin in this year’s first quarter with the plant expected to begin operations in 2024.

The liquefaction project will produce 16 million tons/year (mtpy) of LNG via three 5.2-mtpy trains. The project also will include associated utility systems, interconnections to the existing regasification terminal, and expansion of the site’s storm protection levee system. Existing infrastructure includes five 155,000-cu m LNG storage tanks, two marine berths capable of accommodate the largest LNG carriers, and the 69-mile Golden Pass Pipeline system. The project might add compressor stations to the existing pipeline to facilitate receipt and redelivery of 2.6 bcfd of natural gas.

Golden Pass awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contracts for the project to a joint venture of Chiyoda International Corp., McDermott International Inc., and Zachry Group. It also executed a 20-year firm transportation agreement with Enable Midstream Partners. Golden Pass has also secured pipeline capacity on Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America LLC’s system.

Expected to cost more than $10 billion, Golden Pass is part of ExxonMobil’s plans to invest more than $50 billion over the next 5 years to build and expand its US manufacturing. Working interests in the Golden Pass LNG export project are QP 70% and ExxonMobil 30%. QP will invest more than $8 billion and ExxonMobil more than $2 billion.

“The Golden Pass LNG export project is not our first investment in the US and is certainly not going to be our last. It represents a significant part of the plans that Qatar Petroleum has announced to invest $20 billion in the US energy sector, which we believe would bring great benefits for both the US and the State of Qatar,” said H.E. Saad Al-Kaabi, QP’s chief executive officer and president.

The US Department of Energy has authorized 23.05 bcfd of natural gas exports (177 mtpy of LNG) primarily spread across 10 large-scale projects in Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Georgia, and the Gulf of Mexico. Once completed, Golden Pass will be will be the seventh large scale LNG export project in the US, DOE said.

Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].