On 22 October, QatarEnergy signed two long-term agreements to buy up to four million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year from US supplier Cheniere, with deliveries expected to continue through 2054.
The contracts cover supplies from the Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana and the Corpus Christi facility in Texas. Cheniere subsidiaries at the two locations have each entered a sale and purchase agreement with QatarEnergy. Each covers two million tonnes a year, bringing the combined maximum to four million tonnes annually.
Deliveries due from 2031
Delivery is anticipated to begin in 2031, which sits within the early-2030s timetable set out for the agreements. The planned supply period extends to the end of 2054. The contracts therefore establish a long-running future purchase arrangement; they do not represent an immediate increase in LNG delivered under those agreements.
The two agreements cover LNG produced on the United States Gulf Coast. They set out the commercial relationship for future cargoes rather than a fixed schedule of individual shipments. The stated annual volume is a maximum of four million tonnes, divided equally between the two facilities.
How the agreements are priced
The LNG will be sold free on board at the export facilities. The purchase price is indexed to the Henry Hub US natural-gas benchmark plus a fixed fee. The pricing design combines a benchmark-linked element with an agreed fixed component.
Free on board describes the point at which the LNG is supplied for shipment. The agreements specify this basis for both the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi volumes. They do not change the fact that deliveries remain prospective, with the first cargoes anticipated from 2031.
A condition at Sabine Pass
One million tonnes per year under the Sabine Pass agreement is subject to a positive final investment decision on the first phase of the Sabine Pass Expansion Project. The stated four-million-tonne total includes that contingent amount. The condition relates to part of the contracted annual supply, while the contracts cover two facilities and two separate agreements.
Cheniere Energy Partners is developing the expansion as a phased project. Its expected total peak production capacity is up to about 20 million tonnes a year, including estimated debottlenecking opportunities. If developed as planned, the expansion would take the total production capacity of the Sabine Pass project above 50 million tonnes a year.
The first phase is expected to include Train 7, a boil-off gas re-liquefaction unit, supporting infrastructure and connections to the existing terminal. It is expected to have production capacity of more than six million tonnes a year, including estimated debottlenecking opportunities. An engineering, procurement and construction contract for that phase was signed in May 2026, and early engineering and procurement work has begun under a limited notice to proceed.
US Gulf Coast supply base
Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi are Cheniere’s two liquefaction facilities on the US Gulf Coast. Together, they have approximately 56 million tonnes a year of production capacity in operation, with a further roughly five million tonnes a year of expected capacity under construction, including estimated debottlenecking opportunities.
The new agreements add a multi-decade purchase commitment for QatarEnergy and a long-term buyer for LNG from the two US facilities. The future volumes remain subject to the terms of the contracts, including the expansion decision attached to one million tonnes a year of the Sabine Pass supply.
