QatarEnergy, ExxonMobil Start Production at Texas LNG Project

Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil Corp, said Monday it had begun production, after delays and cost increases.

The terminal in Sabine Pass, Texas is expected to ship its first cargo from Train 1 in the second quarter, Golden Pass said in a statement on its website.

"First LNG is of a particular importance for one of the largest single investment decisions in U.S. LNG history. The operational phase and market entry of Golden Pass LNG will come at an important time when global energy security ranks very high on energy agendas worldwide", QatarEnergy president and chief executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who is also Qatar's energy minister, said separately.

Early this month Qatar, one of the world's top LNG exporting countries, said it has paused LNG operations following attacks on its facilities amid the war in the Middle East.

"Golden Pass LNG is part of a wider QatarEnergy strategy for international investments that we have been planning over the past decade", Al-Kaabi added. "It also represents a significant part of the plans announced by QatarEnergy in 2018 to invest $20 billion in the U.S. energy sector. We are now seeing the first fruits of this far-sighted strategy with the start of Golden Pass LNG".

Golden Pass is permitted to export the equivalent of up to 937 billion cubic feet a year of natural gas, or 18.1 million metric tons per annum of LNG, to countries with a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. and non-FTA countries. The authorizations for the non-FTA and FTA exports were first issued - later amended - in April 2017 and September 2017 respectively.

ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy announced a final investment decision 2019, saying the project would start operation 2024.

Train 1 is one of three trains planned for Golden Pass. Recently Golden Pass reached an agreement with Chiyoda Corp and McDermott International Ltd to amend the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) terms for the second and third trains, according to an online statement by Chiyoda November 18, 2025. The EPC terms for Train 1 had earlier been amended, as announced by Chiyoda November 25, 2024.

Yokohama-based Chiyoda, Houston-based McDermott and San Antonio-based Zachry Holdings Inc (ZHI) was contracted 2019. However, ZHI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2024, saying Golden Pass went beyond schedule and budget. A court-approved settlement allowed ZHI to exit the contract.

QatarEnergy owns 70 percent in the project. ExxonMobil holds 30 percent.

Golden Pass and expansion projects in the North Field in Qatar would more than double Qatar's LNG production capacity to 160 MMtpa, Al-Kaabi announced 2024.

According to the Energy Institute's latest "Statistical Review of World Energy", Qatar was the second-biggest LNG exporter, behind the United States, in 2024, having shipped 106.9 billion cubic meters (3.78 trillion cubic feet).

However, on March 19, 2026, QatarEnergy said damage from missile strikes on its LNG infrastructure at home could take up to five years to repair and cost around $20 billion a year in lost revenue. The disruption affects supply to Asia and Europe, it said.

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