QatarEnergy Contracts for 4 Million Tonnes of US Gas Annually Through 2054
Key Facts
QatarEnergy signed two long-term agreements to purchase up to 4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from US company Cheniere Energy, adding US supplies to its portfolio over the long term. The companies said the volumes would come from the Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana and Corpus Christi in Texas. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2031 and continue through 2054, on a free-on-board basis. The start date means the agreements do not provide immediate supplies, but arrange future deliveries extending for more than two decades. QatarEnergy said the new volumes would "complement its existing liquefied natural gas supplies" and expand its supply and trading portfolio.
The agreements split the volume equally between the two projects: QatarEnergy will buy 2 million tonnes a year from Sabine Pass and 2 million tonnes from Corpus Christi. This arrangement gives the contract two different US sources rather than tying the entire volume to one facility. Cheniere said the purchase price would be linked to the Henry Hub benchmark, plus a fixed fee. The company’s statement did not provide the fee’s value or a specific price level, but it makes clear that the pricing mechanism combines a US gas benchmark with a fixed contractual fee. The 2 million tonnes from Corpus Christi remain separate from the investment condition Cheniere cited for part of the Sabine Pass supply.
Of the total contracted volume, 1 million tonnes a year under the Sabine Pass agreement is subject to a positive final investment decision on the facility’s first expansion phase. The phase includes Train 7 and associated facilities, with expected production capacity of more than 6 million tonnes a year. Cheniere Partners said the investment decision remains subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and acceptable financing arrangements. The company expects to make the decision by early 2027, while permit applications remain pending with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the US Department of Energy. Part of the supply is therefore contingent on completing regulatory and financing steps before proceeding with the expansion.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities have combined production capacity of about 56 million tonnes of LNG a year, with around 5 million additional tonnes of expected capacity under construction, the company said. In February 2026, the US Department of Energy authorized a 12% increase in Corpus Christi exports, of up to an additional 0.47 billion cubic feet a day, raising the project’s total authorized exports to 4.45 billion cubic feet a day. In a separate regulatory process, the department received on 12 August 2026 notice of an application filed on 19 March for long-term export permits for the proposed Corpus Christi Stage 4 project. The project is seeking authorization to export the equivalent of 1,200 billion cubic feet of gas a year. These regulatory proceedings remain separate from QatarEnergy’s announced agreement.
The deal places QatarEnergy’s purchases in the context of its plan to expand domestic LNG production. In an investor presentation published in November 2025, the company said Qatar’s production then stood at 77 million tonnes a year and that it aims to raise it to 142 million tonnes a year by 2030, an increase of 85%. In the same presentation, it described the North Field as the world’s largest non-associated gas field and said its proven reserves exceed 2,000 trillion cubic feet. The company said the field was discovered in 1971. Cheniere Chief Executive Jack Fusco said the agreements "represent a significant long-term commercial commitment and reinforce Cheniere’s position at the forefront of the US LNG market."
The implementation schedule calls for deliveries to begin in 2031, preceded by a target of reaching a final investment decision on the first phase of Sabine Pass by early 2027. The conditional portion of the agreement depends on a positive decision, as well as the regulatory approvals and acceptable financing arrangements cited by Cheniere Partners. Applications for permits related to the Sabine Pass expansion also remain pending, according to the company’s statement. The Corpus Christi agreement coincides with existing export permits and other expansion applications in separate regulatory processes. Deliveries are expected to continue through 2054, according to QatarEnergy.