The 18.1mn t/yr (2.4bn ft³/d) Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas is commissioning equipment on the first of three liquefaction trains and continues to expect first LNG production by the end of 2025 or early 2026, according to a filing with the US Department of Energy (DOE) today.
The terminal, jointly owned and developed by state-owned QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil, began commissioning systems associated with train 1 over the last six months as it received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including the nitrogen system, ground flares and fuel-gas system. The DOE requires companies that are authorized to export LNG to file semiannually detailing the status of their projects.
Pipeline data show Golden Pass was nominated to receive a small volume of feedgas, about 1mn ft³, on 1 October.
Golden Pass also signed gas supply deals with two US producers, Apex Natural Gas and Comstock Oil and Gas, in the six-month period that ended Tuesday.
The project received authorization in September to import and later re-export cool-down cargoes starting on Wednesday. The imported LNG likely will be used to cool the terminal's equipment as part of the commissioning process. Projects of comparable size to Golden Pass typically require one or two such cargoes.
No LNG carriers were signaling arrival for Golden Pass LNG as of Wednesday, according to ship-tracking data from Vortexa.
QatarEnergy chief executive Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi and ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods have said the first exports from Golden Pass could occur before the end of the year, though Woods has cautioned that production could slip into 2026.
Project developers are expected to bring each train on line in six-month intervals.
