Construction of U.S. LNG facility backed by Canadian investor starts

Signage is seen in the reception of CPP Investments' Toronto offices. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

U.S.-based Caturus has given the go-ahead to build a massive liquified natural gas (LNG) facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, after raising $9.75 billion in financing for the plant’s construction, Mubadala Energy said on Friday.

Mubadala Energy, an arm of one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds, holds a 24.1 per cent stake in Caturus and was also an equity participant in the project’s financing.

Energy investor Kimmeridge and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) also provided funding for the plant, with the latter contributing US$1.2 billion and increasing its stake in Caturus to 31 per cent.

The export facility, called the Commonwealth LNG project, will have a capacity of 9.5 million metric tons per annum.

Caturus said it has already secured long-term supply deals with EQT LNG Trading, Glencore, Mercuria, and Malaysia’s Petronas and Saudi Aramco’s Aramco Trading, Mubadala Energy said in a statement, adding that plant operations were expected to start in 2030.

The U.S. is the world’s largest LNG exporter and has played a key role in supplying Asia during the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, with global LNG prices remaining elevated as the Iran war has taken about 20 per cent of the supply offline.

The Commonwealth LNG facility is expected to generate about US$3 billion in annual export revenue once online.

(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)