Venture Global Begins Commercial Operations at Plaquemines as Shell Takes First Long-Term Cargo
Key Facts
Venture Global began commercial operations at the first phase of its Plaquemines LNG project in Louisiana on October 31, 2026, and Shell became the first customer to take a cargo from the facility under a long-term sales contract. The company said the first cargo to depart after commercial operations began left at 3:26 a.m. on November 1, loaded by Shell. Reuters reported that the vessel Malaga Knutsen carried Shell’s first commercial cargo from the project. This marks the first phase’s shift from commissioning to commercial supply for its contracted customers. The announcement followed the start of LNG production at the site in December 2024, when the first commissioning cargo departed, before long-term contract deliveries began.
According to Venture Global, the commercial operations date came just over 53 months after the project’s final investment decision. The company’s chief executive said reaching commercial operations at the first phase of its second LNG project within 53 months reflected “the continued dedication and hard work of our team.” Reuters reported that the first phase completed commissioning on Saturday, 22 months after the facility produced its first LNG. These timeframes place initial production before the start of commercial contracts and show the period between first production and the shift to commercial operations. Venture Global had sold commissioning cargoes from Plaquemines since January 2025, at prices linked to spot or forward market prices when the sale was made.
Alongside Shell, the list of customers expected to receive gas from the first phase under long-term contracts includes Orlen, Sinopec, CNOOC Gas & Power and EDF, according to Reuters. The first phase has a nameplate capacity of 13.3 million tonnes a year, according to Venture Global’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing says contracts entered into after commercial operations begin include a fixed liquefaction fee and a variable commodity fee of no less than 115% of the Henry Hub benchmark per million British thermal units. This structure differs from sales of commissioning cargoes, whose prices were linked to spot or forward prices at the time of sale. The filing also says any production above the first phase’s nameplate capacity is sold to the company’s trading arm.
Reuters reported that the project’s long-term contract prices would be far below levels near $34 per million British thermal units on the Dutch TTF benchmark and $32 on Asia’s JKM benchmark. The report described TTF levels as close to their highest in 46 months. That places the project’s cargoes in a market that has seen price volatility, while commercial contract pricing differs from the pricing of earlier cargoes, which was linked to market prices at the time of sale. Venture Global said the low-cost volumes “will play an important role in stabilizing the global LNG market” during an extended period of volatility. This was the company’s description of the role of the supplies, as deliveries under long-term contracts began.
Venture Global said in its second-quarter 2026 results that the target for commercial operations to begin at Plaquemines’ second phase was mid-2027. This follows the start of commercial operations at the first phase, which has customers in Europe and Asia, according to Reuters’ list. In market trading, Shell shares closed at $108.69 on October 30, 2026, according to L7 data. That close was from the session before the announcement of commercial operations beginning on October 31 and the announcement of the cargo’s departure on November 1. The available data did not include the session high or low.