The Golden Pass LNG export terminal on the Texas Gulf Coast has produced its first LNG, marking substantial completion of construction and commissioning at the facility’s first liquefaction train. The Golden Pass company said in a March 30 announcement that first LNG paved the way for the facility to “deliver its first cargo, achieve sustained liquefaction operations and meet its commercial and strategic objectives”.

Golden Pass is 70% owned by QatarEnergy, with ExxonMobil holding the remaining 30% in the project. The terminal has been under construction since 2019, though this stalled when Zachry Group, one of the joint venture contractors, filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2024. A subsequent court settlement allowed Zachry to exit Golden Pass while the remaining engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, McDermott International and Chiyoda, agreed to complete construction on the project.

Commissioning activities began at Train 1 of Golden Pass in October 2025 and at the time, first LNG was expected by the end of last year, so there appear to have been further minor delays. Nonetheless, Train 1 is now substantially complete. In a joint announcement from McDermott and Chiyoda that was released separately from Golden Pass’ own announcement, the contractors described this as “a major step forward in the project lifecycle, reflecting the culmination of years of engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning”.

Work on Trains 2 and 3 at Golden Pass continues. Exports to the project’s customers are anticipated to begin in the second quarter of 2026.

The facility was originally built to be an LNG import terminal that has subsequently been converted to liquefaction services along with several other LNG plants on the US Gulf Coast. The liquefaction project was originally authorised to have a capacity of 15.6mn tonnes per year (tpy) across its three trains, but this was subsequently increased by regulators to a total of 18.1mn tpy, or 6mn tpy per train. The increase was driven by production efficiencies identified during construction, rather than by any changes to the plant’s design.

First LNG at Golden Pass comes as a boost for QatarEnergy, which is grappling with the impact of missile strikes on its domestic LNG facilities at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar earlier in March. Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who also serves as president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said on March 19 that the attacks had damaged around 17% of the country’s LNG export capacity. Based on early estimates by QatarEnergy, the damage could take up to five years to repair.

Against this backdrop, the start-up of new LNG supplies will be welcomed by the market more broadly. ExxonMobil was quoted by Reuters this week as saying Golden Pass LNG would strengthen US energy production and reinforce the country’s role as a “reliable supplier to global markets”.