Cheniere signs 4 mtpa LNG supply deal with QatarEnergy to 2054
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Cheniere Energy has signed 2 long-term agreements to supply QatarEnergy with 4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through 2054, one of the more unusual US LNG export contracts of the year.
The deals were announced on Oct. 22. Each of Cheniere’s 2 Gulf Coast liquefaction subsidiaries, Sabine Pass Liquefaction in Louisiana and Corpus Christi Liquefaction in Texas, will supply 2 mtpa. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the early 2030s and run until the end of 2054.
Under free-on-board terms, QatarEnergy takes ownership at the US terminal and arranges its own shipping. The price is linked to Henry Hub, the US natural gas benchmark, plus a fixed fee.
The buyer is what makes the agreement stand out. QatarEnergy is the state-owned company behind one of the world’s largest LNG export industries. Its decision to commit to more than 20 years of US supply shows how far US LNG has come, from a seller of spare cargoes to a long-term source of supply that even established exporters want in their portfolios.
Part of the deal depends on a Sabine Pass expansion
Not all of the volume is tied to existing capacity. Of the 2 mtpa that Sabine Pass Liquefaction will supply, 1 mtpa depends on Cheniere Energy Partners taking a positive final investment decision on the first phase of the Sabine Pass Expansion Project.
That project could add up to about 20 mtpa of peak capacity, which would take the Louisiana site above 50 mtpa in total. The first phase, which includes a seventh liquefaction train and a unit to re-liquefy boil-off gas, is expected to add more than 6 mtpa.
Cheniere has already moved some of that work forward. In May 2026, it signed a lump-sum engineering, procurement, and construction contract with Bechtel for the first phase, and Bechtel has started early engineering and procurement work under a limited notice to proceed.
Long-term contracts are what usually turn an LNG expansion from a plan into a project. Lenders and boards want to see volumes sold before committing billions of dollars to new trains, and a deal lasting more than 20 years with a state-owned buyer is the kind of commitment that supports that case.
The Qatar agreement therefore matters as much for what Cheniere may build as for what it already ships.
Henry Hub pricing gives QatarEnergy a different kind of exposure
The pricing structure is standard for US LNG, but it differs from much of the LNG traded worldwide.
Many long-term LNG contracts, particularly in Asia, have historically been priced against oil. Cheniere’s contracts link the cost of the gas to Henry Hub, with a fixed fee covering liquefaction. For the buyer, that means the price moves with the US gas market rather than with crude.
For a portfolio player, that can be useful. Holding supply priced on a different basis spreads risk across markets, and free-on-board terms let the buyer send cargoes wherever demand is strongest.
Cheniere has not said where QatarEnergy plans to send the cargoes or why the Qatari company chose to contract with it.
Chief executive Jack Fusco pointed to Cheniere’s ability to supply QatarEnergy from both Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi. Supplying from 2 Gulf Coast sites could give Cheniere more room to keep cargoes moving if one terminal faces an outage or planned maintenance.
A long contract signed in a volatile market
Long-term LNG contracts are built for a much longer view than this year’s price swings. Deliveries under these agreements will not begin until the early 2030s, by which time the market could look very different. New LNG supply is under construction in the US and elsewhere, and buyers and sellers will be judging whether demand keeps pace.
For Cheniere, the deal adds another long-term customer to its book. For the US LNG sector more broadly, it suggests that demand for long-dated US supply is not limited to traditional importers in Europe and Asia.
Several questions remain open. Cheniere has not said when it expects to take a final investment decision on the Sabine Pass expansion, and the start of deliveries is only described as the early 2030s.
Whether other major exporters follow QatarEnergy in signing up for US volumes could say a lot about how the global LNG trade reorganizes itself over the next decade.
Source:
Business Wire
