Qatar signs long-term US LNG deal with Cheniere

QatarEnergy has agreed to buy 4 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (XNGUSD:N) per year from Cheniere Energy in the United States, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the early 2030s and continue through 2054. The long‑term supply contract marks a major shift for a country that is itself one of the world’s largest LNG producers, and comes after the Iran war sharply curtailed Qatar’s own export capacity and shipping routes.

Under the agreement, QatarEnergy will collect the cargoes at US export terminals and arrange its own shipping. The purchase price is indexed to the US Henry Hub benchmark plus a flat fee, tying a significant portion of Qatar’s future LNG portfolio to North American gas pricing for more than two decades.

Two Cheniere subsidiaries, Sabine Pass Liquefaction in Louisiana and Corpus Christi Liquefaction in Texas, will each supply 2 million metric tons of LNG per year to QatarEnergy. One million metric tons per year of the volume allocated to Sabine Pass is contingent on a final investment decision for an expansion phase at that facility.

The deal is QatarEnergy’s first US LNG offtake agreement, even though the company already holds a majority stake in the Golden Pass export plant in Texas, which is now starting up. By purchasing LNG rather than only exporting it, Qatar is deepening its commercial links to the growth of US LNG capacity and exports.

Cheniere plans to expand Sabine Pass with a new liquefaction train and supporting infrastructure, adding more than 6 million metric tons a year and contributing to a potential peak capacity increase of about 20 million metric tons per year, including debottlenecking. The Qatar contract helps underpin this long‑term expansion program.

Qatar’s pivot toward US supply follows extensive damage and disruptions caused by the Iran war. Iranian missile strikes in March damaged two of the 14 liquefaction trains at Ras Laffan, removing 12.8 million metric tons per year of production capacity and putting sustained pressure on Qatar’s export model.

From April through September, Qatar’s LNG exports fell almost 90% from a year earlier. By the end of September, deliveries had recovered to only about a third of prewar levels, even after Qatar began ferrying cargoes across the Strait of Hormuz, where attacks on tankers have continued and complicated shipping flows.

QatarEnergy has extended force majeure notices to multiple buyers, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Italy’s Edison, with Edison saying it will receive no Qatari cargoes until December. Qatar’s energy minister and QatarEnergy chief executive Saad Sherida al‑Kaabi has said the new US purchases will expand and diversify the company’s global LNG portfolio while helping maintain supply to international customers.

The new deal underscores how security risks around the Strait of Hormuz are shifting global LNG trade flows. Ships leaving the US Gulf Coast can reach customers without transiting the strait, reducing exposure to regional tensions that have hindered Qatar’s exports and raised questions about future freedom of navigation in the area.

Although the 4 million metric tons Qatar has agreed to buy each year is a small fraction of the global LNG market, it represents a sizable individual contract and reinforces the growing role of US LNG in meeting long‑term demand. It also illustrates how a major exporter can become a significant buyer when domestic facilities are damaged and export routes are disrupted.