QatarEnergy and Cheniere Sign LNG Deals for 4 Million Tonnes Per Year

QatarEnergy signed two long-term sale and purchase agreements with U.S. producer Cheniere Energy to jointly acquire up to four million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas. The contracts run through 2054, according to the sources, implying supply commitments extending into the second half of the century.

Each agreement covers two million tonnes per year, one sourced from the Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana and the other from the Corpus Christi terminal in Texas. Deliveries would begin in the early 2030s, though gCaptain specified they would start in 2031. Pricing will be indexed to the Henry Hub natural gas index plus a fixed fee, and QatarEnergy will purchase the LNG on an FOB basis, taking charge of transporting the cargoes from the U.S. terminals. One million tonnes under the Sabine Pass contract remains contingent on a positive final investment decision for that plant's expansion project, which Cheniere plans to carry out in phases to add about 20 million tonnes per year of capacity, bringing the terminal's total to over 50 million tonnes.

The deal comes as QatarEnergy faces disruptions to its own LNG production following Iranian missile strikes on its Ras Laffan Industrial City plant in March. The strikes damaged two liquefaction trains with a combined capacity of 12.8 million tonnes per year, wiping out roughly 17% of Qatar's export capacity. The company warned that repairs could take between three and five years and cost up to $20 billion annually in lost revenue, affecting its long-term supply commitments to customers in Europe and Asia.

Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs and CEO of QatarEnergy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said the purchase will expand and diversify the company's global LNG portfolio and enhance its ability to meet evolving market needs. The deal was sealed by Cheniere CEO Jack Fusco together with Al-Kaabi, adding another long-term customer for the U.S. company's Gulf Coast operations, which currently total about 56 million tonnes per year of capacity between Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi, with another 5 million tonnes under construction.