The US Department of Energy (DOE) today granted a key export license to US energy asset manager Kimmeridge's proposed 9.5mn t/yr (1.3bn ft³/d) Commonwealth LNG terminal, finalizing a conditional order it authorized in February.
The final order allows Commonwealth to export LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US. The project was first granted a conditional non-FTA license in February soon after President Donald Trump entered office and ended a de facto moratorium on such licenses that began in January 2024 under former president Joe Biden.
The DOE issued two conditional licenses in the interim between Trump's inauguration and the conclusion of the 2024 LNG export study, which wrapped up in May and found additional exports to be in the public interest. The placeholder approvals allowed LNG projects to continue in commercial talks with potential offtake customers with assurance that the facilities would not run into hurdles with the DOE. The other project to receive a conditional license, Venture Global's 28mn t/yr CP2, reached a final investment decision on its first phase in July after signing 3.75mn t/yr of long-term offtake agreements.
Commonwealth LNG has accelerated closer to a financial decision this year despite Australian independent Woodside canceling its 2.5mn t/yr sales and purchase agreement when it committed to building its own 16.5mn t/yr Louisiana LNG facility. Soon thereafter, Commonwealth announced long-term deals with Petronas and JERA each for 1mn t/yr, bringing its total binding offtake agreements to 4mn t/yr on top of another 4mn t/yr set aside for non-binding agreements.
Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Energy on 8 August finalized an agreement to buy a 24.1pc stake in Kimmeridge's SoTex HoldCo, which rebranded to Caturus. Caturus has upstream gas assets in Texas' Eagle Ford basin and owns Commonwealth LNG.
Kimmeridge said earlier this year it expects to reach a final investment decision on Commonwealth LNG by October, with first LNG production anticipated in 2029.
