The Gulf Coast is no longer just building LNG terminals. It is building a queue of them — and not every project in the queue will survive it.
Two decades ago America imported gas. Today its Gulf Coast hosts the largest wave of liquefaction capacity ever built in a single region, and the wave is only cresting. Two flagship terminals, Cheniere’s Sabine Pass and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass, have been loading tankers for years. Three newer entrants — Plaquemines, Golden Pass and Corpus Christi’s Stage 3 expansion — have joined them since December 2024, pushing nameplate export capacity toward 20 billion cubic feet a day.
Behind that front rank sits a second wave still under construction or newly sanctioned: Port Arthur, Rio Grande, CP2, Woodside’s Louisiana LNG, Commonwealth LNG and, most recently, Delfin’s floating terminal offshore Cameron Parish. A third wave — Texas LNG, Argent, Monkey Island, Coastal Bend, Gulfstream, and expansions at Freeport and Cameron — remains pre-FID, jostling for the offtake contracts and financing that turn a permit into a plant.
Not all of them will make it. Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles LNG, once a front-runner, was suspended in December 2025 and has since lost several of its buyers — a reminder that in this business, a signed heads-of-agreement is a beginning, not a guarantee.
Live
Five terminals now shipping cargoes, from Cheniere’s original giant to the newest arrivals.
| Project | Output | Key offtakers | Where it stands | Next / first LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabine Pass Cameron Parish, LA |
~30 mtpa (6 trains) | TotalEnergies, Shell, GAIL, KOGAS, PetroChina, Centrica | Fully operating since 2022; Stage 5 (Trains 7–9, +20 mtpa) in permitting | Stage 5 FID late 2026/27 |
| Calcasieu Pass Cameron Parish, LA |
10 mtpa | Shell, BP, Edison, Galp, PGNiG, Repsol | Operating since Jan 2022; some cargo volumes still under offtaker arbitration | Operating |
| Plaquemines LNG Plaquemines Parish, LA |
~20 mtpa | Shell, ConocoPhillips, EnBW, PGNiG | First cargo Dec 2024; Phase 2 running above nameplate | Full completion 2026 |
| Corpus Christi Stage 3 Corpus Christi, TX |
~10 mtpa | Cheniere portfolio, CPC Taiwan | Feed gas into final trains; largely complete | Full completion 2026 |
| Golden Pass LNG Sabine Pass, TX |
18 mtpa | QatarEnergy / ExxonMobil (equity offtake) | Train 1 first LNG Mar 2026; first cargo shipped Apr 2026 | Train 2: H2 2026 · Train 3: H1 2027 |
Building
Six projects with money committed and steel going into the ground.
| Project | Output | Key offtakers | Where it stands | Next / first LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Arthur LNG (Ph.1&2) Jefferson County, TX |
~26 mtpa combined | ConocoPhillips, RWE, Orlen, INEOS, Engie, EQT, JERA | Phase 2 FID Sept 2025; Bechtel EPC on both phases | Ph.1: 2027–28 · Ph.2: 2030–31 |
| Rio Grande LNG Brownsville, TX |
17 mtpa Ph.1 (+4 mtpa Tr.4) | TotalEnergies, Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips | Trains 1–3 under construction; Train 4 FID’d | H1 2027 |
| CP2 (Calcasieu Pass 2) Cameron Parish, LA |
~20 mtpa Ph.1 | EnBW, ExxonMobil, Chevron, JERA, Eni | Phase 1 under construction; Phase 2 FID expected 2026 | 2029–2030 |
| Louisiana LNG (Woodside) Lake Charles, LA |
16.5 mtpa (permit to 27.6) | Marketed via Woodside’s equity/offtake process | FID Apr 2025; Train 1 >22% complete | 2029 |
| Commonwealth LNG Cameron Parish, LA |
9.5 mtpa | EQT, Glencore and others (~85% subscribed) | FID reached ~May 2026 | Late 2020s |
| Delfin LNG (FLNG 1) Offshore Cameron Parish, LA |
4.4 mtpa, floating | Vitol, Expand Energy, Centrica, Gunvor, SEFE | FID June 2026; $2.9bn Samsung Heavy FLNG contract | ~2030 |
Pipeline
Seven hopefuls still chasing the offtake and financing needed to break ground — though one has now pulled well ahead of the pack on permitting.
| Project | Output | Commercial signals | Where it stands | Target first LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulfstream LNG Plaquemines Parish, LA |
4 mtpa (3 trains) | DOE FTA export permit secured; no long-term offtake signed yet | In FERC’s final Certificate Proceeding stage (Docket CP25-519); US Coast Guard Waterway Suitability Assessment permit received | ~2030 |
| Texas LNG Port of Brownsville, TX |
4 mtpa | RWE, Glenfarne Global Commodities — fully subscribed | $5.7bn debt package assembled Feb 2026 | ~2030 |
| Argent LNG Port Fourchon, LA |
Up to 25 mtpa | 5 mtpa Bangladesh deal; MOUs with Botaş, Naftogaz | FERC pre-filing approved Oct 2025 | Early 2030 |
| Monkey Island LNG Cameron Parish, LA |
15.6 mtpa Ph.1 (26 total) | MOU with an international oil company | FEED underway via McDermott | Early 2030s |
| Coastal Bend LNG Texas Gulf Coast |
Up to 22.5 mtpa | Commercial process ongoing; ConocoPhillips tech | KBR / Técnicas Reunidas selected for FEED, Jan 2026 | Late this decade |
| Freeport LNG Train 4 Freeport, TX |
~5.1 mtpa | Marketing to European buyers | FERC extension secured to 2028 | Uncertain |
| Cameron LNG Expansion Hackberry, LA |
6.75 mtpa | Sempra / Mitsui / Mitsubishi / TotalEnergies | Seeking export-deadline extension | Uncertain |
Stalled
Development was suspended in December 2025 after Energy Transfer failed to reach a final investment decision. Several binding offtake agreements, including volumes tied to Chevron, were subsequently terminated in February 2026. The project is now being marketed to potential equity buyers — a cautionary footnote to an otherwise crowded field.