QatarEnergy to Buy Up to 3 Million Tonnes of LNG a Year Under 20-Year Deal

Key Facts

Woodside Energy has signed a sale and purchase agreement with QatarEnergy to supply up to 3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year for 20 years from the Louisiana LNG project, according to a Woodside filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The contract links supplies to a project under construction near Lake Charles, Louisiana, adding a long-term agreement to QatarEnergy’s purchases of U.S. gas. Woodside said supply would begin when the second train starts operating, then rise to 3 million tonnes a year when the third train starts up. The filing did not specify the volume of shipments in the first phase or give a calendar date for the start of supply. QatarEnergy expects Woodside deliveries to begin in 2030, Bloomberg reported, a year after the project’s targeted date for first production.

The agreement sets out two stages tied to the project’s operating progress. Shipments on a free-on-board basis will begin when the second train starts operating, while supply will reach 3 million tonnes a year when the third train starts up, according to Woodside’s filing. The filing does not give a volume for the first phase, so “supply begins” does not mean the maximum volume will be available as soon as the second train starts operating. QatarEnergy’s access to the agreed annual volume depends on the project reaching the third-train operating stage. Bloomberg’s 2030 date refers to expected deliveries to QatarEnergy, not Woodside’s target for first production from the project.

Woodside is targeting its first LNG cargo in 2029, while the project’s foundation phase comprises three trains with combined capacity of 16.5 million tonnes a year, according to the company’s filing. This puts the production target ahead of the expected start of deliveries to QatarEnergy in 2030, with shipments still tied to the start-up of the second and then the third train. Woodside said construction is under way on the project near Lake Charles. The company took a final investment decision on the foundation phase in April 2025, according to Louisiana Economic Development, which put the decision’s value at $17.5 billion. This provides context for the scale of the infrastructure that will supply the agreement, without changing its terms tied to the trains’ start-up dates.

Woodside’s deal is part of a series of U.S. agreements QatarEnergy has announced recently. The company signed two long-term agreements to buy up to 4 million tonnes a year of LNG from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities, with the agreements running through 2054, according to QatarEnergy. Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters that Cheniere deliveries are not expected to begin before 2031, after the expected start of Woodside deliveries. Combining the maximum volumes under the two agreements, QatarEnergy’s U.S. purchases covered by the deals would total up to 7 million tonnes a year once full volumes are reached. That remains a future contractual total, with each agreement tied to a separate delivery start date.

Al-Kaabi framed long-term purchases from the United States and other producers as part of a trading strategy aimed at generating revenue if Qatar’s exports through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted in the future. He told Reuters that an export disruption could lead to “an immediate rise in gas prices, and you could then generate revenue for QatarEnergy.” This explains the company’s broader commercial strategy and does not establish that risks around the strait were the reason for signing the Woodside agreement specifically. Al-Kaabi also said QatarEnergy expects to sign additional long-term supply agreements with U.S. and other producers during the year. Those potential agreements remain separate from the announced Woodside contract, which sets its duration and maximum volume but makes the timing and actual volume of supplies dependent on the project’s progress.