Caturus greenlights Commonwealth LNG terminal: Update

: Natural gas
26/05/15

Adds quotes from Kimmeridge co-founder Ben Dell.

US natural gas and LNG producer Caturus will proceed with its $13bn plan to build the 9.5mn metric tonnes (t)/yr (1.3bn ft³/d) Commonwealth LNG export terminal in southwest Louisiana, the company announced today.

The final investment decision (FID) formally kicks off the terminal's full-scale construction and is the second affirmative FID among US LNG developers this year, following Venture Global's decision on the 7.8mn t/yr second phase of CP2 in Louisiana.

Two other proposed export projects, Glenfarne's 4mn t/yr Texas LNG in Brownsville, Texas, and Delfin Midstream's 4.4mn t/yr floating LNG unit offshore Louisiana, could also begin construction by the end of June.

Caturus expects the Commonwealth terminal to begin operations in 2030. The project has sold 8.5mn t/yr of production, or 89pc of its capacity, under long-term contracts. It has 20-year agreements for 3mn t/yr with Glencore, 2mn t/yr with EQT, 1.5mn t/yr with Mercuria and 1mn t/yr each with Petronas and Aramco.

Caturus is backed by US private equity firm Kimmeridge and Mubadala Energy, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also has a stake in the firm. Mubadala Energy, EOC Partners, BlackRock and Ares Management contributed to Commonwealth's financing.

The US is already the world's largest exporter of LNG, with nearly 145mn t/yr of capacity currently operating and another 129.3mn t/yr under construction. Most of these facilities are concentrated in the US' growing LNG export corridor near the Texas-Louisiana border. The Commonwealth project will be built on the west bank of southwest Louisiana's Calcasieu Ship Channel across from Venture Global's 12.4mn t/yr Calcasieu Pass and 28mn t/yr CP2 terminals. Sempra Infrastructure operates the 15mn t/yr Cameron LNG about 15 miles north on the ship channel, and Woodside is building the 16.5mn t/yr Louisiana LNG project another five miles north of Cameron LNG.

Caturus' decision comes after years of regulatory and legal setbacks hindered the project's progress. Commonwealth stood out as one of the projects most hampered by former President Joe Biden's year-long moratorium on issuing key export licenses, a policy the Trump administration's Department of Energy (DOE) quickly rescinded by granting a license to Commonwealth in February 2025.

The Trump administration's regulatory support moved Commonwealth "out of uncertainty and back onto the path of FID", Kimmeridge co-founder and managing partner Ben Dell said at a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday.

"For Commonwealth, DOE's export authorization was not a formality," Dell said. "It was a federal signal customers, investors and builders needed [in order] to know that this project could serve global markets."

Commonwealth also faced environmental setbacks at the state and federal level. A DC Circuit court in July 2024 ordered the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to review its assessment of the project's environmental impact, citing problems with the agency's underlying analysis of climate change and conventional air pollution. FERC later issued a final environmental order in June 2025. Then a state judge revoked Commonwealth's coastal use permit in October, threatening the project's timeline, before Louisiana reissued another permit in November.

Caturus also plans to grow its gas production on the US Gulf coast. The company bought south Texas assets from producer SM Energy in February, and in December agreed to jointly develop assets in the Haynesville shale with acreage-owner Black Stone Minerals. Caturus is now producing more than 1bn ft³/d of natural gas equivalent.

By Tray Swanson

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26/05/21

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UN backs ICJ climate ruling, key oil nations opposed

26/05/21

UN backs ICJ climate ruling, key oil nations opposed

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Japan decides not to issue summer power saving request

26/05/21

Japan decides not to issue summer power saving request

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Gas flows recover on key Haynesville pipeline

26/05/20

Gas flows recover on key Haynesville pipeline

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Adnoc CEO sees long road back from war disruption

26/05/20

Adnoc CEO sees long road back from war disruption

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